Dark Side of the Moon
by Ravensnake
Summary: The four nations are united, at war against the Order of the Red Lotus. Unwilling to sit around waiting for Hakoda and Sokka to return, Katara decides to join the fight - even if it means breaking international law and posing as a man. Zutara AU loosely based on Mulan - Rated T for now, but that may change in later chapters...
1. Chapter 1

Looks like I'm back in the fan fiction game! Woo!

After much deliberation and procrastination, I've finally decided to contribute to my all-time favorite ship, Zutara. It's been a while since I've written a lengthy fan fiction though, so please bear with me. Not to mention, this is my first foray into serious Zutara writing ever. Anyway, I really hope you guys like it!

So this fic is **very loosely based on Mulan** , so if it doesn't seem like it at first, it's because I won't be following the story verbatim. It's more of a guideline.

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter One**

In the glow of the moonlight, I do my best to remain quiet. It's difficult, as my hand itches to open the waterskins at my hips. _Be patient_. My mother's voice echoes in my mind - yes, I have to be patient. The full moon urges me forward but I hav to be careful. One wrong move, and I'll be discovered too soon.

The two men I follow speak in hushed tones, so I can't quite make out what they're saying. It doesn't matter, though. I'm not trying to spy on their conversation, I just need to know where they're going. How much longer are they going to walk? We're already a couple of hours outside the Fire Nation Capital - how much farther could their hideout possibly be? When they come to a stop, it's at the base of a cliff, a stone wall before them. I lunge behind a large boulder almost a second too late. One of the men - the younger one - turns to inspect his surroundings, hand lit with his firebending.

"We're good." I peek around the boulder, my stomach brushing the grass beneath me as I press to the ground. He turns to his companion with a nod, and the latter performs a quick earthbending maneuver, shifting a large portion of the wall, revealing a dark tunnel. Damn - there's no way I'd be able to follow them through the opening.

I let myself make some noise, allowing the robes of my costume to brush loudly against the tall grass. Moving swiftly, I push back into the darkness, where the firebender's light can't reach me. He whips around, motioning his partner to stop. Before the earthbender can close the gap, I launch a water whip his way, wrapping the thick tendril around his leg and pulling him towards me. The earthbender's head knocks against the ground and he's unconscious. I hardly have time to make sure he's not bleeding before the firebender attacks with quick, hurried jabs. He's panicked, and he can't really see past my robes.

"P-Painted Lady…" Is he aware that he's mumbling to himself? I don't speak, taking advantage of the man's momentary inability to control himself. I pin him down in a barrage of ice, though I know that won't hold the firebender for long. Once he's down, I knock him unconscious with a swift kick before he can get a good look at my face. Like his partner, he's out for the count.

I'm relieved to see that the opening is intact, though that relief is short-lived. Whatever their destination was couldn't be that far into the tunnel, as three men emerge from the opening. Farther into the darkness, the sounds of mobilization float to us as they alert the rest of their group. With more people soon to appear at the mouth of the tunnel, my only choice is retreat. With a groan, I summon my water back out of their skins, encasing my arms in thick tentacles. A single swipe of my arm manages to knock two of the men against the natural wall. The third man is quicker than the rest, dodging swiftly and getting behind me. I whip around just in time to deflect a fireball, losing some of my water in the progress.

He's a better bender than the first one, and has me cornered almost immediately, my back against the wall as I try to find a way out. Running isn't an option, as he'll likely shoot me down before I get very far. Another firebender joins him and between the two of them I'm beginning to lose stamina. Soon, I'm stumbling, left with no option but to dodge their attacks in an attempt to conserve water. Energy from the full moon hums through my skin, and I know what my body _wants_ to do. My survival instinct kicks in, and I assume a stance I never wanted to use again.

They're shooting at me again when I'm about to take control of their bodies. Bloodbending isn't something I'll ever enjoy doing, but the rush of energy is difficult to resist. Feeling that kind of power can get addicting.

I'm distracted by a flash of a shadow as something emerges from the brush and dashes towards the nearest firebender. A glint of blue glows in the moonlight before it's snuffed out in the same moment. A grunt and a thud later, that firebender is on the ground. The one still standing is momentarily stunned, giving me the chance I need to knock him out with a single whip. Whoever it is that's decided to help me, they're also concerned with concealing their identity. They straighten up and turn to me, revealing a mask I recognize as the Blue Spirit. Sokka and his friends used to talk about him - the patron spirit of Fire Nation warriors. In all the time I've spent as the Painted Lady, this is my first encounter with him.

Neither of us speaks, but we seem to communicate well enough. With a nod, we both head into the cave. His mask is unnerving, though I'm sure I'm not any more of a comforting sight. He runs in front of me, his legs much longer, and in the shadows I can make out the silhouette of a sword at his back. When we stop, he holds out an arm, stopping me from advancing as well. The tunnel opens into a chamber, and the entrance is on what appears to be a makeshift balcony made from the wall of the cave.

It seems our fight outside didn't alert the people deeper into the cavern, and they continue to go about business as usual. Below us, the large space is filled with at least a hundred people, with more streaming in from various tunnels in the walls. We dash back into our tunnel, keeping out of sight. From our vantage point, I can still see the man who appears to be leading the meeting - he stands at the front of the room, a giant banner hanging on the wall behind him. It's the symbol of the Red Lotus. Beside me, the Blue Spirit's stance relaxes, and he moves to walk back out of the tunnel and away from the chamber.

He's just going to let them go?

I follow him out, but not before passing in front of him and turning to stop him. It's doubtful that he can see my face past the shadow cast by the straw hat and through the veil, but I do my best to express my confusion. In return, he shakes his head and motions for me to follow.

Outside, he lifts his mask. For a second I think he's going to remove it completely, but he only tilts it enough to place two fingers in his mouth and whistle. It's a piercing sound I'm not prepared for after all the sneaking around. Before I can even react, his mask is back in place and his hand takes my wrist and pulls me into the shadows and behind the boulder I'd originally hidden in. With a finger against the mouth on the mask, he uses the other hand to point around the boulder.

I hear them before I see them - hundreds of them. Despite living in the Fire Nation, I've never seen so many soldiers in one place. Unlike the Blue Spirit and me, they'll be more than capable of taking on the entirety of the Red Lotus members. The Blue Spirit obviously knows this, too, because once the last of them is inside the tunnel, he gets up and begins to walk away. He turns to look at me once, nodding before sprinting off into the night. Taking a page out of his book, I make myself scarce, too.

The next morning, the news is all over the city. Due to an anonymous tip, a Red Lotus hideout in the lands outside the Fire Nation capital was overtaken by a small army made up of the soldiers stationed in the area.

Every shop owner is talking about it, and I do my best not to react out of the ordinary to the news.

"Hello? Katara? Are you in there?" Li snaps her fingers in front of my eyes, and I realize I'm staring blankly at an apple.

"Sorry - just got lost in my own thoughts for a second…" I shake my head, trying to reassure my friend. In an attempt to play it off, I pick up the apple and place it in my bag.

"You've been doing that a lot lately, is everything okay?" Li's opal eyes show nothing but concern. I do my best to offer her a smile.

"Just worried about my dad. Sokka's last letter said he hasn't heard from dad either." It's not a total lie - I _am_ worried about my father. That's why I've been investigating the Red Lotus.

"Oh - I'm sorry. Of course you're worried - how could I be so stupid?" She grabs her waist-length braid in both hands, almost wringing it.

"No - it's fine. Really." I try to continue shopping. Cooking for only myself has made me lax, and I keep letting myself fall behind on groceries.

Despite my reassurances, or possibly because of their lacking conviction, Li continues to shoot me worried looks. She doesn't say much else as we wrap up our shopping, but now I'm watching her and can tell there's something more she wants to tell me.

My curiosity gets the better of me as we walk through the city streets on our way back to my house.

"Are you going to tell me what's eating at you?" I'm carrying my bags in both my arms, one of them just barely missing brushing my chin. When I look over at Li, she's staring at her feet.

"I…" She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before releasing her next words. "I've enlisted."

I try not to react, but I can't help the way my grip weakens just slightly. It's difficult to hide the falter when I'm struggling to maintain my grip on the groceries. "W-Why?"

"My family could really use the money…plus my father's too elderly to enlist himself. The letter came to our house this morning." For Fire Nation citizens, enlisting in the United Republic Army is compulsory in times of war. Every family with able-bodied members of military age had to enlist at least one of them. I knew it was only a matter of time before Li left, as her brother was too young to fight, but still. "I'm sorry - I know you're alone, and I hate to leave you…"

"You don't have to apologize, Li." I manage a smile. "Really. I know you don't have a choice. Just like I can't do anything but stay here…" It was easy to let my sorrow turn to anger in those last words.

"Katara…"

"Seriously." I nudge her with my shoulder. "Why don't we just enjoy the time you have left here, hm? When do you leave?"

"In a week."

"Well then this will be the best week you've ever had."

When she drops me off at my doorstep, it's with the promise that we'll see each other in a couple of hours for a fun night out. I'm still exhausted from the previous night, but I'm not about to let that get in the way of spending some much needed time with people. Whenever I'm alone I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just as I'm opening the door to my house, the feeling returns. Not even the traditional Water Tribe décor was comforting enough to subdue my nerves. For the first time in a while, it truly strikes me that I'm alone in the Fire Nation.

Even though it's been over a year since Sokka enlisted to follow our father, I still haven't gotten used to being without company. I remember when dad was first stationed in the Fire Nation when we were kids - we were so excited to see a place not covered in snow. Now, I wish we'd stayed with Gran Gran.

A knock at my door shakes me from my thoughts, and rush back from the kitchen to answer it.

"Katara of the Southern Water Tribe?" At the doorstep, a soldier greets me with the question. Unlike the soldiers from the previous night, this one isn't Fire Nation. Instead of the traditional red armor of the nation, he wears a slimmer, more practical - looking uniform. The black material is loose, allowing for a lot of movement, reminding me somewhat of the suit the Blue Spirit wore.

"Can I help you?"

"I have a letter from the United Republic Army." He bows as he hands it to me. When I take it, he looks at me with an odd mix of apprehension and expectance.

"Thank you…" I nod - a clear dismissal. He bows one more time before leaving.

When I shut the door behind me, it's everything I can do to remain upright. My hands are shaking, and my heart is doing double-time. I play with the idea of not opening it, but once again my curiosity bests me and I tear the wax seal.

I have to read the letter multiple times before the information sinks in. Every read-through numbs me further, until I don't realize that I've fallen to the floor and onto my knees. My eyes search for some hint that it's a mistake, but find nothing. The official seal of the Order of the White Lotus at the bottom of the letter almost seems to mock me.

My father's unit was attacked in an ambush, and reinforcements had arrived too late. Several bodies were missing, my father's among them.

* * *

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Thanks for reading & see you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

I had no intention of posting chapter two so soon, but the writing bug has struck and there's no turning back now. Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to start reading this so far! You guys are awesome :)

Quick head's up - it's late and I'm very tired. I proofread as best as I could but if I messed up, please let me know and I'll correct the travesty ASAP.

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

As much as I love my waterbending and miss the South Pole sometimes, I can't help but to occasionally wish I was native to the Fire Nation. Watching my best friend wave at me from a United Republic Navy ship is one of those occasions. My tribe's antiquated rules have never really bothered me, to be honest, since I've spent most of my life in the Fire Nation, but now I feel those restrictions stronger than ever.

I stand at the harbor until the ship is completely out of sight, on its way to the Earth Kingdom. The crowd is long gone by now and I'm left alone again. The walk back to my house comes and goes almost in a blink. I don't realize I'm home until I'm already leaving again, heading to the city outskirts for my usual training routine. The atmosphere smells like rain. It's already pouring by the time I reach my favorite spot by a creek deep into a neighboring forest.

Going through the motions, I allow myself to relax, to ease the tension away with my waterbending. Hama always used to say I should channel my anger into my technique, but I never understood that idea. Then again, Hama also had a violent streak. Thoughts of the elderly waterbender didn't do much to help clear my mind, though. Pushing my old master's ideas out, I focused on my breathing and on keeping the rain from touching me. For hours, it's nothing but the sounds of my breathing and the swishing of my waterbending. I don't stop until the rain becomes a drizzle and the clouds begin to thin out.

" _Katara_."

At the sound of my name, I turn around. It sounds like it's coming from just beyond the trees. It's a voice I don't recognize, but something about it compels me forward. I drop my stance and the water begins to dampen my clothes, running into my hair and down my neck. "Who's there?"

It's still pretty cloudy, so I can hardly make out shadows in the darkening forest. I shouldn't have stayed out this long.

" _Don't be afraid._ " Again, that voice. This time, there's a glow just beyond the trees. It gets closer, growing brighter but smaller. I'm back in my stance despite the comfort the voice offers.

"Who are you?" My water whip is ready, though I'm fairly sure it wouldn't do much against the presence. At first, it's pretty fuzzy, like I'm looking at someone through a haze. As it begins to come into focus, I can distinguish human features - a face with a long beard and mustache, broad shoulders, a tall, imposing build despite the man's age. When I can finally see him clearly, it's obvious he's ancient - even older than Gran Gran. Airbender tattoos adorn his head and hands. The rest of him is covered in an elaborate robe.

" _It's a pleasure to meet you, Katara._ " His gray eyes twinkle as he speaks. Despite his age, they're the eyes of a child.

"How do you know my name?"

He smiles.

" _Do you know who I am?_ " He takes a step closer, and it's only then I realize he's still translucent. By the tattoos, I know he's a master airbender, but there's something else behind the look in his eyes. Though they seem to retain his youth, there's something eternal about them - a depth that never ends. They're eyes that have seen millennia.

"Avatar Aang." I drop the waterwhip immediately, falling into a bow. "I'm sorry - I didn't know…"

" _That's quite alright, child."_ The corners of his eyes crinkle with his smile this time. He's amused with me. " _Please, stand. I have a message to relay to you_."

What could the Avatar possibly have to say to me? How does he even know who I am? I do as he says and stand back up, holding my hands in front of me, suddenly supremely self-conscious.

" _It's about Hakoda._ "

"Dad?"

" _He's alive - the ambush happened while his unit was escorting me to Ba Sing Se. Were it not for his bravery, I would be dead. I owe it to your family to tell you._ "

"Alive? How? Where?" Any sense of decorum is gone, my eagerness at seeing my dad again taking over.

" _The Red Lotus singled him out as the unit's leader and took him prisoner. I'm sorry to say I don't know where they're located._ " His eyes turn to sorrow, and it's evident how much he cares.

"No - you've done more than I could ever hope for. You have no idea how grateful I am that you've done this." I don't even realize that I'm already forming a plan in the back of my mind. He sees it, though, if the knowing look he gives me is any indication.

" _Please be careful in how you proceed, Katara. War is dangerous and the Red Lotus even more so._ " He bows slightly, his old age causing him to move slowly. When he disappears, I'm left alone once more. However, there's no emptiness this time.

Once I'm home, I waste no time in grabbing a piece of parchment and writing a letter. I address it to Li's family, knowing they're the only ones who would notice my absence. I write that the loneliness of living in the Fire Nation now that Li's gone is too much for me. As a result, I put down that I'm leaving to the South Pole to live with my grandmother. It's a short letter, and I make sure to be as sincere as possible.

I run into Sokka's room - I haven't been in here since the day he left - and search his closet for his old Water Tribe warrior uniform. Before enlisting in the United Republic Army, he had a mandatory service period with our tribe's military - he was much slimmer back then, so this uniform actually fit me well enough. Breasts bound, I slip on the high-necked undershirt. This will take some getting used to, but I'll deal with it. I can still breathe well enough, so I dismiss the rest of the discomfort while I finish putting on the uniform. Sokka's hunting knife - at least, one of them - sits in the same closet that contained the uniform. There would be no convincing the United Republic Army that I'm a man with my hair as long as it is. I can almost hear what my mother's protest would sound like.

Cutting it as evenly as I can, I let my hair fall to the floor of my brother's room. By the time I'm done, it just brushes my shoulders, and I pull a portion of it back into a bun before using the hunting knife to carefully cut the rest as short as possible before beginning to shave it. I'm suddenly glad for all the times Sokka made me shave his head. After doing some more rummaging through his room, I find his war paint. Rather than put it on now, though, I simply take the containers and rush back to my bedroom. I pack light, but I make sure to include my Painted Lady attire, too.

Outside, the rain gets worse again. Thunder and lightning have scared everyone back into their houses, so I know I won't be seen. Clutching the letter to Li's family in my hand, I leave my house. Her family lives only a few blocks away from me, and I slip the letter under their door unseen.

Without looking back, I leave the Fire Nation Capital.

* * *

My courage starts to run a little dry as soon as I'm close enough to the camp to hear voices. I've already painted my face, and I've had plenty of time to practice passing for a man, but the reality of what I'm about to do finally sinks in.

If I'm found out, I'm dead.

"Snap out of it, Katara." I'm pacing, mumbling to myself and trying to come up with a viable escape plan should everything go wrong. I was pretty sure I'd be able to fight my way out - these were only recruits, after all, not full-fledged soldiers. But still - whoever was training them would probably be more than capable of overpowering me.

With a groan, I fall back into the grass. No turning back now, though. I give myself another second to overcome the nerves before I force myself back up. It was now or never.

The camp itself is larger than I first imagined, housing some hundred or so soldiers. Each tent was spaced out evenly, some signs designating common areas. I try to make myself small, invisible to the rest of the people milling about the camp. A few signs dotted throughout the camp signal where the unsummoned recruits are supposed to sign in. There isn't a line or anything waiting in the small tent. Instead, there's simply a table set up with a United Republic soldier. I freeze in my tracks when the soldier looks up at my entrance.

Sokka.

"Volunteering for the war effort? Always nice to see someone from the water tribe." He smiles at me.

I hover at the door for a second, sure that he'll recognize me. It's only a matter of time. Hoping for the best, I approach the table. "Yes. Figured it was time to help out."

Sokka slides some paperwork towards me and a thin brush dipped in ink. "So where are you from?"

"South Pole." I want to kick myself for the automatic answer. Why didn't I say the north?

"Really? Me too! I knew you looked familiar." Dammit, dammit, dammit!

He stands up from his chair and leans forward to get a better look at me. I take a step back, nervously reaching for my braid just to give my hands something to do. It's too late when I realize I don't have a braid anymore, and I look like an idiot when my hands shoot back down. It's too late by then, though - recognition dawns in Sokka's eyes.

Sokka moves quickly around the table and to the tent's opening, giving the outside world a quick look before shutting the flap and tying the lock.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Katara?" It hasn't even been fifteen minutes since I entered the camp. "You're wearing my uniform! My warpaint!"

"Sokka, please! Keep it down. I can explain." My voice is back to normal, and this only seems to worsen Sokka's reaction. "It's dad - he's missing."

"What?"

"There was an ambush on his unit and the army thinks he's dead - they sent me a letter." I rush over to him, placing a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him. His face falls completely, no longer mad at me.

"So he's dead, or missing - which is it?" He takes my hand, returning the comfort with a gentle squeeze. Confusion laces his words.

"Missing - I know he's still alive."

"How?"

"The Avatar told me - he came to see me. Well, not actually came to see me - he's in Ba Sing Se - but he appeared to me, like a spirit! Said dad saved his life on the way there." Sokka takes a step back before returning to the table, placing his palm flat on the surface and leaning against it. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you have to believe me! I wouldn't be here if it weren't true."

He remains silent for a moment, looking down at the paperwork on the table. "Alright. Thanks for the message Katara. I'll make sure we find dad."

"What?"

He straightens up and moves back towards me, taking my shoulders in both hands. "You need to go home - there's no way I'm letting you stay here."

I pull away abruptly, doing little to hide my annoyance. "If you think I came all this way just to tell you - I didn't even know you were here - and then go home running, you're sorely mistaken, Sokka."

"Please - this is treason against the Water Tribe."

"Well they're not the ones in charge here!"

"Katara, you know the treaty as well as the rest of us."

"I don't care. I'm staying and going to find dad. You can either help me or stay out of the way." I've never spoken to Sokka this way, and I want to apologize for the harshness in my tone, but I have to stand my ground. He really doesn't have a choice. I won't go without a fight and he knows I'll win. If he exposes me, he's signing off on my death.

"Dad will never forgive me for letting you do this." His posture slouches, shoulders sagging in defeat.

"That doesn't matter if we don't find him." Now that he's a bit deflated, I approach him with a hug. "I missed you Sokka. I can't just sit around waiting for you or dad. You have no idea what that's like." For a second I think he won't return the hug, but soon enough I feel the familiar embrace.

"You can stay, but you have to do everything I tell you, okay?" He pulls back, holding me in place by the shoulders again. "You don't know the first thing about being a guy."

"I know enough to pass for one the entire way here, so I think I'll be okay." I go to remove the lock on the door, untying it just as a voice calls through the fabric.

"Sokka? Why did you close the tent?" The source of the voice pushes through the cloth. He's taller than Sokka, and ducks slightly as he comes through the entryway. I step back, completely frozen again, unable to look away from the scar that mars his face.

Sokka bows slightly, and I have enough sense to copy him. "Prince Zuko - sorry, looks like the wind blew it closed."

Prince Zuko looks skeptical, but seems to accept the explanation. He turns to me, "New recruit?"

"Yes, sir." I bow again for good measure.

"I was just about to have him fill out his enlistment form." Sokka, without missing a beat, walks back to the table and hands me the form and brush. Unsure of how to proceed, I follow my brother's lead and make my way back to the table to quickly fill out the form. It only takes a few moments, but it's more like an eternity when I can feel the crown prince of the Fire Nation staring into my back. "Was there something you needed, sir?"

"Looking for my uncle - someone said they saw him stop by here?"

"Yes - said he would be stopping to see Master Pakku on the way out of the camp."

When I look up from the paper, Prince Zuko is about to walk out of the tent again. "Thanks Sokka."

Once he's gone, the relief in the tent is palpable.

" _Master Pakku is here_?"

"Yes - he's Prince Zuko's second in command."

"Great." I sigh, handing him the paper with my information on it.

"Kuruk? Really? You couldn't come up with anything better?"

* * *

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading & see you next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Happy Friday!

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I know I'm having loads of fun writing :)

Thanks again to everyone who's read this story and favorited/followed it! Special thanks to **Texasface** for taking the time to be my first reviewer.

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Sokka dismisses me from his tent soon after double-checking my paperwork and handing me two uniforms. We've agreed that I'm going to lay low and we'll pretend to be a cousins for the time being. Apparently, he's given his fellow soldiers enough information about his personal life for them to know he doesn't have any brothers, but a sister. Outside the tent, I feel exposed, afraid that anyone who looks at me for longer than two minutes will figure me out.

It looks like all the newest recruits stay in a group of large tents on the other side of the camp, so I make my way there to claim a cot before trying to figure out what to do next. The first two tents are completely occupied, each containing about fifty or so recruits of all nationalities. There doesn't seem to be any kind of rhyme or reason for how the recruits are organized, giving everything something of a haphazard feel. Something about that makes my stomach turn over with nerves, but I try not to think about it.

When I finally reach the tent with open cots left, I drop my things on the nearest one - about five spots away from the opening. Everyone seems pretty caught up in their own things, so I let myself relax for a little. Taking some water out of one of my skins, I wipe my face clean - I won't be able to keep the paint on forever. At some point I'll have to find a place to change into the uniform so no one can see me. I try to stifle my groan at the thought. My whole body is exhausted and all I want to do is sleep.

"What the _HELL_ did you just say to me?!"

The furious shout launches me from the bed. For a second I don't register the words, and I'm immediately in my fighting stance. I only relax when I see people shoving their way out the tent door and hear the commotion outside. A few chants of _fight, fight, fight_ break through the noise.

Outside, a large crowd has formed around two people - soldiers or recruits, I'm not sure, though I suspect the latter. I think about taking advantage of everyone's momentary distraction to change clothes, but then a section of the crowd in front of me splits open, and I realize almost too late why. Barreling towards me is a large boulder - large enough to crush my skull. I'm suddenly glad I carry more than one waterskin. Summoning the water, I put up a wall of ice. As soon as they make contact, I morph the ice around the boulder and redirect its momentum up and over me, lodging it in the ground less than a foot away behind me. Adrenaline courses through me and mingles with my annoyance at almost being hit with stray earthbending.

Several of the recruits watching the fight noticed my maneuver and keep the gap to the fight open, as if sensing that I'd be joining in. Neither of the two fighters - a small earthbender and a nonbender who looked to be Water Tribe, if his weapon was anything to go by - notice they almost killed me. I'm wound tighter than I realize, and before I can think better of it I join in. The crowd only encourages me, getting noisier by the second. I step into the circle, and they finally notice.

"You idiots could have killed me!" I send half my water in the direction of the nonbender, pinning him to the ground in a blanket of pure ice before turning my attention to the earthbender. She smirks and reassumes her fighting stance.

"You wanna go?" She's tossing a boulder up and catching it with one hand, her stance relaxed. It's then I notice that, though she's facing me, she's not quite looking at me. Her eyes are glazed over and a light green that almost looks white. She's blind.

"Gladly."

Neither of us gets to make the first move, as the crowd has broken again, this time in a hush.

"What is going on here?" Prince Zuko's voice rings out over us. The earthbender and I both freeze, dropping our respective stances and turning to the prince. It looks like I'll always just clam up in front of him, because I can't bring myself to speak. Anger is clear on his face, made worse by the way his scar moves with the scowl. He's downright terrifying.

"Ice boy over there started it." Unlike me, the earthbender is unfazed and simply points at the man I froze to the ground. I take my cue from her and unfreeze him before someone - one of his friends, I assume - rushes over to help him up. "Said some ridiculous crap about women not belonging here."

Figures. At least the man in question has the decency to look apprehensively at Zuko. It's common knowledge that the Fire Nation holds women in supremely high regard. Hell, the princess, from what I've heard, is apparently the pride and joy of the royal family as far as bending goes. This offense seems to be enough to redirect the prince's anger at him, so he bypasses us and goes straight for the Water Tribe man.

"And who might you be?"

"Hahn of the North Pole, sir." Hahn stands at attention, but he's practically quaking.

"Well, Hahn, I'm not sure if you're aware but you're _not_ in the North Pole, and this _isn't_ the Water Tribe Army." The prince crosses his arms, looming over the soldier with that permanent scowl. "And while you're here, I expect you to treat your fellow soldiers with the utmost respect. We're all here for the same reason." He turns to the rest of the crowd. "That goes for all of you - I will not tolerate this behavior in my ranks. Is that understood?"

A chorus of "Yes, sir!" answers the prince. Just when I think I'm off the hook, he turns to me next.

"And who are you?"

"Kuruk of the South Pole, sir." I bow slightly, doing what I can to hide my face a bit and surprised I didn't slip up with my real name.

"And what's _your_ story?" He eases a bit, but the anger hasn't left his tone. "Something tells me you weren't defending your tribesman."

"No, sir. A stray boulder nearly hit me. I, um, lost control. I apologize."

"A stray boulder?" His attention goes from me, to the earthbender, and then finally to the frozen boulder in the ground near the tent. "Beifong, I assume that's your doing?"

"Yes, sir." She simply stands with her arms crossed. There's a familiarity there, something closer to the exchange he had with Sokka. Everything is quiet for a moment, and the prince seems to be deliberating something.

"The three of you will sharpen and polish _every single weapon_ in the armory by tomorrow morning." Behind me, Hahn mutters something but he's out of Zuko's earshot. "I'll be inspecting them all myself. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The three of us stand at attention. A moment later Prince Zuko dismisses everyone.

My hands ache and I have blisters by the time I finally make my way to sleep sometime in the middle of the night. I'm not entirely sure how late it is, but I'm fairly sure I won't be getting much sleep. Hahn shot me dirty looks the entire time we worked on the weapon, while Beifong mostly kept to herself. The silence nearly drove me insane and I was more than excited to finally get out of there. It's an even greater relief when I realize Hahn isn't in the same tent as me. We walk past his tent and he leaves without a word, so it's just me and the earthbender. It looks like she's in the same tent as me.

Just before I open the flap to go in, she grabs my arm and pulls me away from the tent. "A word?"

"What?" Confused, I let her drag me a few paces away from the tents.

"Any particular reason why you lied to Zuko?" She confronts me with her arms crossed. I can't see her face very well between the darkness and the way her hair falls over it.

"I didn't lie? I told him the truth - your stray boulder could have crushed my skull."

"That's not what I'm referring to." I catch a glimpse of a smirk, and it suddenly dawns on me - she knows. "I can feel when people lie, and Kuruk's not your real name."

 _Dammit_.

"And there's your heartbeat speeding up, so I know I'm right." She grins, smug. "So - are you going to tell me or do I have to report you to Zuko? Or worse, Pakku?"

"No, no, please, don't." I wring my hands in front of me, trying to figure out a way out of this but coming up with absolutely nothing. With a sigh, I continue, "My name is Katara…I…"

"Holy crap you're a woman! Wait, not just any - you're Sokka's sister, aren't you? Does _he_ know it's you?"

"What? How do you-?"

"He's very talkative - told lots of us tons about you actually." She laughs out loud, holding her stomach. "This is priceless! Based on what he said about you, I'm really not surprised. You're nuts!" She calmed down a bit, wiping a tear. "I can respect that."

"So…so you're not going to tell?"

"In case you didn't notice, I'm not a fan of your nation's stupid rules about women." Something tells me she's not a fan of rules at all, but I keep my mouth shut. "So I'll help you keep your little secret." Again, that smug grin. "It'll cost you, though."

Of course.

"What do you want?"

"I'll let you know when I think of something." She stifles a yawn. "So why? I mean, doesn't make a difference, but there has to be a reason, right?" If my heartbeat gives away how much I _don't_ want to talk about it, Beifong doesn't seem to care.

"My dad went missing after a mission."

"Ah - that _would_ do it." She quiets a bit. "Sorry."

"Thanks, Beifong."

"You can call me Toph." She offers a smile - the first sign of comfort coming from her.

I don't respond, looking back to the camp. There's no movement, and there's actually a certain kind of peace about it. I don't feel that alone anymore.

The next morning, I wake up to a punch in the arm, courtesy of Toph. "Rise and shine."

"Wha-?"

"Come on, get up unless you want everyone else to see you changing." At her whispered words, I shoot out of my cot, scrambling to look around. The rest of the tent is still asleep. A small slip in the opening of the tent shows the sun is only just about to come out. "They wake us up at the ass crack of dawn so I suggest you hurry up."

I mutter my gratitude before hurrying to strip out of my sleeping clothes. Making sure no one is looking and suddenly grateful that Toph is blind, I hurry to re-bind my breasts and slip into one of the uniforms. I'm surprised to find it's actually comfortable. Sokka's old Water Tribe uniform, though a little loose on me, was much more formfitting. With this uniform, I didn't have to bind as tightly. Toph was already dressed and I was pulling my hair up when a couple of soldiers started making the rounds to wake everyone up.

"Let's go. I'm starving." She leads the way out of the tent and across the camp to where they've set up an outdoor mess hall. Some of the recruits from the other tents are already lined up to get their breakfast. I spot my brother sitting off to the side on his own, so I nudge Toph to follow me.

"Morning, Sokka." I smile at my brother before sitting down next to him, food in hand. "Surprised to see you up this early. Guess military life has been good for you."

"Shut up." He grumbles, very obviously tired. As one of the soldiers in charge though, he probably doesn't have much of a choice but to be up before everyone else. He looks between me and Toph. "So I heard the two of you fought yesterday?"

"No - Hahn started with me and Katara intervened…"

"Toph!" I whip around to the younger woman, glaring at her even though she can't see me.

Sokka pales and nearly chokes on his food.

"What? No one's close enough to hear me." She shrugs.

"Why does she know?" He looks back at me.

"I might be blind, but you can't hide _anything_ from me." Her grin stretches again before she takes the last bite of her food. "But don't worry - I'm not gonna out your sister." She gets up and stretches before walking away, saying something about morning earthbending exercises.

"You've only been here a day and _two people have already figured you out_." Sokka puts his bowl down. "Please consider going home."

"You hardly count, and Toph's obviously an exception. There's nothing you can say to make me leave, so deal with it." I finish up my own food. The previous night at dinner, we were briefed on our day to day activities. Everyone was handed a schedule, so I dug in my pocket for mine.

"So what's on your agenda?" Sokka tries to look over my shoulder at the schedule.

"Looks like physical conditioning."

"Have fun with that." He finishes his food before standing. Without saying much else, he waves at me before jogging away. Alone again, I go through my schedule. Physical conditioning, combat practice, battle simulation - everything is pretty standard for what I expected from the military. The only thing that catches me off guard is the last item of the day - meditation. Not that I minded, but it's interesting that whoever put the schedule together thinks meditation is crucial war training.

A loud whistle rings out over the camp, signaling the start of the day's schedule. Physical conditioning is in the northern section of the camp, so I get up and start to make my way there. Toph catches up with me on the way, along with another recruit. After a quick bout of introductions, I find out her name is Smellerbee, and she's a nonbender from the Earth Kingdom. We line up with everyone else, and I catch a glimpse of Hahn joining the group, talking to what appears to be others from the Water Tribe. I wish I could speak with them too, but that's entirely too risky. Besides, I've obviously shot any chances at a friendship with Hahn by now.

It seems like he won't let me forget it, either. As he walks past, he stops in front of me, scorn and disgust clear on his face.

"You would turn on your own tribesman, rather than uphold our customs. What kind of waterbender-"

"What's the matter Hahn, still sore over getting your ass handed to you yesterday?" Toph cuts him off, smirking.

"This doesn't concern you." Obviously, he is. His friends simply stand behind him, and others begin to take notice of the potential spectacle.

"The hell it doesn't-!"

"Soldiers!" Prince Zuko's voice wrings out over the murmur of the crowd, and Hahn and Toph immediately back away from each other and fall in line. "I expect you assemble here _in silence_ exactly at sunrise every day. If you don't, you'll answer to me." His eyes linger on Hahn. It seems he either favors Toph, or just knows better than to assume she'd start something this early in the morning. Behind him, there are two women. The first one has black hair done in an odd combination of buns and two long locks falling down her front and a very serious expression. The second one has a more cheerful disposition, and her long braid seems to bounce with her movement.

Toph stifles a chuckle, as if she knows he's not referring to her.

"Beifong." We all step back simultaneously, leaving Toph at the forefront. Prince Zuko motions to the darker haired girl, and she whips a throwing knife at a large, stone pillar that stands at least thirty feet tall. The blade lodges itself into the stone at the very top. "Thanks for volunteering. Now bring me the knife."

With an expression bordering on petulance, she mutters "Fine."

"Wait." Just as she's about to reach the pillar, Prince Zuko stops her. "You'll need these." He walks over to her with two large stone slabs attached to thick ribbons. He hands them both to Toph, and it's clear in her reaction that they're absurdly heavy. "This one is discipline, and the other is strength. You'll need both to get the knife." When he finally gives her space again, Toph quickly assumes an earthbending stance, and it's clear what she's going to do. "Ty Lee."

The other girl - the cheery one - closes the distance between her and Toph quicker than I thought possible. Even Toph is taken off guard as the light-footed girl moves around her and quickly jabs specific parts of her arms and legs. Toph's body sags a bit, and when she tries to bend the earth under her feet, nothing happens.

"Did I forget to mention - no bending?"

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	4. Chapter 4

So this chapter is kind of on the slow side. Never realized how hard it would be to translate the training montage (at decent pacing) from Mulan to this, but here's hoping I do it justice!

Thanks again to everyone who's keeping up with the story!

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

For someone who comes from a long line of supremely powerful benders, Prince Zuko places a surprising emphasis on perfecting non-elemental training. It's not just combat, either, but on doing simple things without our bending - cooking, basic survival skills. Getting that knife would be supremely easy if we were allowed to use our bending, but I suppose that's not fair, since our unit also has nonbenders. At least I'm not Toph.

I wince, watching as she falls yet again, hardly able to get even halfway up the pillar. My tailbone and shoulders are still sore from the previous day, and I'm not looking forward to when my turn comes around again. On the bright side, Hahn still hasn't gotten it yet, either. If the look on his face is anything to go by, he's dreading his own turn at least as much as I am. Lucky for me, he goes before I do. Toph gives up after another three tries. Again, she never makes it past the halfway point, those weights pulling down her small body. When she stands back up, she lets the weights drop and turns around, grumbling the entire time as she makes her way over to me.

"This is so _stupid_. It's not like I'll ever be without my bending." She crosses her arms.

"You never know - Ty Lee caught you off guard pretty easy. Who's to say the enemy doesn't have similar fighters?" Right after the cheerful girl took away Toph's bending, Zuko explained that Ty Lee knew a very specialized fighting technique focusing on disarming benders - he called it chi blocking.

"Whose side are you on?" She narrows her eyes in my general direction, but I don't really let it bother me. With a sigh, I focus on watching as each recruit, one by one, continues to try ascending the pillar. Maybe if I watch enough of them, it'll suddenly hit me how to do it. By the time the weights get passed onto me, I still don't have any ideas.

I take a deep breath, suddenly self-conscious that Prince Zuko's focused, intense gaze is locked onto me completely. Unlike Toph, I don't even make it as far as the halfway point. On my third try, I don't fall on my tailbone, but flat on my back, winding myself. I'm suddenly glad I can't actually make it that far up, or the fall would be much worse. My head cracks painfully against the ground, sending lights into the corners of my vision. I curse under my breath, but still move to try again.

"That's enough of this exercise for now." Prince Zuko steps in and takes the weights from me. The look of disappointment is clear, though he makes a valiant attempt to hide it. As he puts away the weights, he continues. "Take a fifteen minute break, then it's hand-to-hand combat training."

There's a collective relief in the group, but it's cut short at the mention of combat training. We focused mostly on conditioning and some survival skills the previous day, with a couple of hours dedicated to practicing bending at the end of the day. My whole body is sore from that alone - fifteen minutes doesn't sound like enough time to recover - and I struggle to stand. Someone extends their hand, and I don't even think before taking it. It's not until he's pulled me all the way up that I realize Zuko's the one who's helped me up. I pull my hand away and take a step back, unwilling to linger too close. Something about the way his eyes take in his surroundings makes me nervous.

When he walks away, I can't help but stare after him. Toph snaps me out of it.

"Ugh - why did I ever enlist?" She collapses to the ground, apparently preferring to just lie there rather than go get some water.

Glad Zuko didn't see a reason to take our bending away the second day, I bend some water onto my right hand and sit on the ground beside Toph. Placing it on my shoulder, I focus on the warm glow that'll sooth my muscles.

"You're a healer?" Smellerbee joins Toph and me. Unlike us, she actually got past the midpoint of the pillar earlier today, on her sixth try. Something told me it's because she's not a bender.

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought only women were healers in the Water Tribe…" _Crap_.

"My mother taught me." I'm quick enough with the lie that she seems to buy it. On the ground, Toph smirks. That was much too close. Thankfully, none of the other Water Tribe recruits notice. I bend my water back into the waterskin on my hip and stand, deciding that stretching will just have to do.

When our fifteen minutes are up, Prince Zuko calls us to attention again.

"Like the pillar exercise, today's combat training is strictly non-bending." He removes his tunic, so that he's only wearing pants, and I have to make a conscious effort not to stare. "You'll be split into sparring partners." I've been dreading this since yesterday. While I'm a fairly good waterbender, my skill in hand to hand combat is near nonexistent.

Everyone lines up again, and Zuko starts to call out names. It's pretty obvious early on what he's doing - for every bender, he's choosing a nonbender partner. To my dismay, I'm the last person Zuko pairs off and there's an uneven number. Unfortunately for me, he's my sparring partner. Toph's very obviously stifling a laugh, even as she makes her way to where Hahn is waiting for her to begin their session. That pair alone is evidence that Zuko has a sense of humor, and I try to take some solace in that.

We bow, the way I've seen others do, palm against my fist at chest level, before settling into our stances. _Don't waterbend, don't waterbend_. It's become an instinct at this point, and it doesn't help that my body feels like it's about to waterbend.

The prince attacks first, and it's everything I can do to get out of the way. Dodging, at least, is something I'm halfway decent at. I sidestep his fist, but he recovers remarkably fast. He kicks out to make up for the missed punch, and I move to bring up an ice wall to deflect it. My body jerks, though, when I remember I shouldn't be bending, and I don't react quickly enough. A second later I'm on the ground, courtesy of a kick to my stomach. Again, Zuko reaches down to help me up.

"Again." His jaw tightens, and he moves back to his starting position.

I stifle an apology, and this time I attack first. It's a pitiful attempt, though, as I clearly can't throw a punch to save my life. He moves out of the way with ease, grabbing my wrist and flipping me over his shoulder. For the second time today, I fall flat on my back.

"Are you even trying?" Commanding officer or not, I'm getting annoyed with him and sympathizing with Toph's anger at limiting our bending. Narrowing my eyes, I get up without his help this time.

I'm not sure how long this goes on, only that I keep losing. The longer we go at it, the worse it gets. My body is beyond sore by the time we're done, hours later. Toph fared a little better than me, and she doesn't let me forget it.

"Hahn's hardly a great fighter." I take a bite of my lunch, trying to not to show how much effort it takes me to lift the food to my mouth.

"She's right you know." Smellerbee, along with the rest of the nonbenders, seems perfectly fine. "Even with his Water Tribe military training, even _I'd_ be able to take him down."

That should have taken her down a peg or two, but Toph remains smug as ever. My only comfort is that I'm much better at literally everything else that most benders rely on their element to do.

When it comes to basic survival skills, both Sokka and I learned early from our dad. Back when we still lived in the South Pole, it's not like my bending was good for much else but healing. It was a long time ago - at least ten years - but the skills dad taught us back then carried through. It's not easy to survive on a frozen tundra as children, especially in the South Pole where our numbers are lower, but we managed - a skill that the rest of the nations need to work on. That's pretty evident as soon as Zuko shifts our training focus from combat to survival. He actually has Sokka lead this session, putting him in charge before heading off to review another group in the camp.

My brother shows us how to make a fire, build a shelter, and purify water. He's actually invented a pretty interesting method of purifying water involving large leaves, a pot, and some fire. It's the first I've seen of it, and I can't help the bit of pride that swells up at watching him. Dad would be proud. Sokka then splits us up into groups, pairing me with Toph. Like Zuko, he makes a point of pairing people up based on the skills he's sure we possess.

"Finally, learning something useful." Toph crosses her arms and pays attention to the way I use the spark rocks to light the small pile of twigs. We're the first to get a small fire going.

"I'm just glad we're finally doing something I'm decent at." Satisfied with my work, I give Toph the spark rocks and talk her through the steps. At first I think teaching her might be a little difficult, but she explains how her seismic sense works. The same way she can hear my heartbeat through the earth, she can find her way around as if she could see. Now that I'm watching her, I wouldn't know she's blind unless I look at her eyes. It takes her a couple of tries to light the twigs, but after her fifth attempt the sparks catch, and her small fire lights beside mine.

When Sokka notices that I've gotten Toph to successfully light a fire, he brings over a group of firebenders who seem to be struggling. Like Toph thought about the combat, they think it's a waste of time to learn how to create fire without firebending.

"Another word out of you, and I'll get Prince Zuko to come back." Sokka narrows his eyes at one of the firebenders - a tall guy with broad shoulders named Chan. "I wonder how he'd feel about his own citizens not being up to par on basic skills?"

Chan looks at my brother - a whole head shorter than him - down his nose, disgust clear in his eyes. With what sounds like a snarl, he drops onto the ground beside me and Toph, dumping his tinder in front of him and handing me the spark rocks. The two firebenders with him - a short girl whose name I missed and another guy - follow his lead. Smirking in triumph, Sokka turns and leaves, moving over to another struggling group.

"Alright. It's pretty simple. Like this." I arrange some of my left over twigs carefully, and then begin to try lighting them. "Takes a bit of patience." Something firebenders aren't particularly known for. "But after a while you'll get the hang of it." After six or seven strikes, some of the sparks catch and the twigs begin to glow just slightly. I quickly start to blow on them, shielding them from stronger winds at the same time. "If you're doing this in the rain, do your best to keep your kindle dry and protected." I fan on it slightly, until the flame grows and there's a small fire. "Now you try."

Each of them copies the way I set up my tinder, and then begin striking their spark rocks. Chan gets frustrated quickly, and it's a wonder he didn't snap at Sokka before. I demonstrate how to strike the spark rocks together again before having him continue. The girl catches on fairly quickly, and is able to build a tiny fire before the wind blows it out completely.

"Are you related to Commander Sokka?" It's the girl firebender. She's trying again, and I guess the silence dotted with Chan's frustrated grunts must be driving her as crazy as it's driving me. "That's not to say all Water Tribe are related, you just-"

"Yeah - he's my cousin." Chan finally manages to get one of the twigs to light.

"Oh - that's cool. Did you grow up together?" Why is she so interested?

"No - Sokka's family moved to the Fire Nation when we were little. I grew up in the South Pole." Turning my attention to the second firebender, I take his hands and move them the way he's supposed to. "What about you? Did you grow up in the Fire Nation?"

Small talk continues through the session, and I do my best to divert the conversation away from me and towards the others. I learn that the female firebender is named Rina, and the other male one is Jinzuk. It's a relief when Sokka says we're free to go to our next meal. Rina seems reluctant to leave, but she shoots me a smile before heading off to eat with the rest of the Fire Nation recruits.

"Looks like you've got an admirer." Toph nudges me with her elbow, jutting her chin in the direction of the Fire Nation group.

"What?"

"Rina's got it bad - probably because _you were so nice and helpful_." She says the last half of the sentence in a sing-song voice - I'm not entirely sure if she's trying to make fun of me or her.

"Grow up, Toph."

Unfortunately for me, she's right.

"Kuruk!" I'm hardly done with dinner when she's already by my side, following Toph and me to the sparring area. I almost forget to respond to the name. "I was wondering if you wanted to be sparring partners for the bending session tonight. I figured - waterbending, firebending - should be an interesting match?"

Toph snickers, excusing herself to go find a new partner now that I'm unavailable.

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	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next chapter! I must have re-read it like twenty times, but I'm fairly sure some mistakes still made it through.

Thanks again to everyone who's keeping up with the story! I appreciate every view/review I get - you guys keep me going :)

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

After training with Prince Zuko, I was sure that it couldn't get much worse. The prince, though not unfair, is strict and ruthless. I've been firmly dumped on my backside more times than I can count, since he's made us keep our sparring partners from the first day, and I've made no progress in getting that stupid knife from the stone pillar. It's been almost a month, and while no one else has managed to grab the knife, I seem to be the only one who is completely and totally incapable of fighting without bending.

To make matters worse - Master Pakku is even worse than Zuko. I'm a decent bender, but nowhere near the standard Pakku demands.

"Again!" Master Pakku barks the order and we lash out with our whips. We've been doing drills for hours now - my practice dummy has been replaced at least six times - but the end is nowhere in sight. Behind me, one of Hahn's lackeys - Hiryu, I think - has gone out of his way to hit me almost as many times, and always when Master Pakku isn't looking. When I feel the water getting close again, I redirect my whip and turn in place.

"What is your _problem_?" I lash out, knocking him back into the grass and freezing him there. While he's pinned, I take some of his water and cover my arm in a giant icicle, pointing the business end at his throat. "I _dare_ you to try that again."

"Kuruk! What do you think you're doing?" Master Pakku's voice halts everyone's training, and a hush settles over the camp.

"Sir. I…" Nothing I say will not make me sound like I child, so I simply unfreeze Hiryu. "Hiryu needs to go through more drills, Master Pakku." I glare at the man on the floor, unwilling to do more to help him stand. "It seems he can't control his waterwhip long enough to keep it from hitting me."

"Is that so?" Master Pakku crosses his arms, and for a second I actually think he's going to punish Hiryu and leave me to my drills. Of course, that's too much to ask for. "Are you telling me how to train my recruits?"

"No, sir." I stand at attention, doing my best to appear obedient. It doesn't work.

"I don't like that tone, Kuruk." Behind me, Hiryu snickers. It's all I can do to keep from smacking that smirk off his face. "You'll do forty laps around the camp - and _then_ you'll finish your drills."

"Yes, sir." I respond practically through my teeth. Once he dismisses me, I start my laps. On my first lap around, Hiryu shoots me a look of satisfaction. I hardly get a chance to glare back when the ground underneath him shifts and he loses control of his water. When he falls over, several people around him burst out laughing, but Toph's laugh, yards away from the waterbenders, rings the loudest. I send her a silent thanks and continue my laps.

By the time I'm done with my laps, my entire body aches, but I still have my drills left. The rest of the waterbenders are long gone by the time I get back to practicing. Toph is kind enough to construct a practice dummy out of rocks for me, so it's serving as the current receiver of my aggression.

"Why do you bother? Everyone's gone to bed - Pakku won't know."

" _I'll_ know - and it'd be my luck that one of the other waterbenders sees me and rats me out." Besides, I only have two forms left. "What do they have against me anyway?"

It's a dumb question - it's not like I made the best impression among the rest of the Water Tribe recruits early on. I'm pretty sure Sokka's the only one I get along with. Suddenly, I'm picturing Hiryu's face on Toph's dummy, and I strike more aggressively than I intend to. It's a clean slice along the center of the structure, and it collapses.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." She erects another practice dummy with ease. "I'm going to bed - I suggest you do the same soon." Toph waves at me before heading back in the direction of the sleeping tents. I decide to continue until the current dummy breaks. It doesn't take very long - the last form we were assigned to practice was controlling ice disks. I take all my water and create a thick column in front of me, sliding my arms out and around to launch the disks at the stone. At some point, even Sokka drops by to tell me he's turning in for the night.

By the time I'm done, I'm panting, and I allow myself a moment to relax in the grass before pushing myself up. I'm drenched in sweat, water, and dirt - I've never been more desperate for a bath in my life. Careful not to wake anyone when I return to the tent, I simply grab my entire bag, rather than take the time to rummage through it, before leaving again, heading for a lake I know is nearby. I place my things as close to the water as I can before stripping down to my underwrappings. It's a beautiful night, and I really want to take my time and just enjoy the peace of the lake, but I know better than that. I can't risk being seen, so I use my bending to speed up the process. I'm clean within fifteen minutes.

On the shore, I dry myself off with bending, keeping a look out for anyone else who might have decided to take a late night bath. I'm mostly dressed when I hear it - rustling in the trees. Whatever it is sounds much too large to be an animal, sending my entire body into high alert. Before I can really think about what I'm doing, I throw a loose shirt over my bindings and rummage in my bag for my Painted Lady robe. Suddenly glad I decided to grab everything, I take out the veil and straw hat, too. After finding a bush good enough to hide my things, I do a quick job of painting my face with mud and start to follow the sound. It seems like it's moving away from camp, but something - instinct, probably - propels me forward.

I'm as silent as I can be, and for a while I think I might have imagined the rustling. In the darkness of the night, I can hardly see anything, and the sounds of nocturnal animals chirping and hooting momentarily distract me. When I hear the sound again, it's almost too late.

The sound is directly behind me, and when I turn I'm forced to look up along the blade of a Dao sword at my attacker. The Blue Spirit? Here? My waterwhip is ready, tipped with ice at the end and ready to impale his neck. We stay at this stand-off for what seems like eternity, before he lowers his weapon first. My mind is raging with questions - what are the chances that I'd see him _here_ of all places? Does he remember our last encounter? Is he hunting Red Lotus members?

"Why are you here?" He didn't hear my voice last time, but I'm careful to disguise it and whisper as low as I can. I draw the water back into the waterskin, watching as he sheathes his swords and turns slightly to his left. When he turns to look at me again, he simply stops for a beat. It's unnerving, watching the mask just stare, until he jerks his head in the direction he'd been looking. "You want me to follow you?"

A nod.

Without waiting for me to react, he takes off. Before I can think better of it and stop myself, I run after him, struggling to keep up. Even though the bath did wonders, I was still aching all over.

I never realized how close the nearest town was until now - we're hardly a half hour from the camp on foot. Like the camp, most of the population seems to be asleep. The Blue Spirit even relaxes his stance a bit, so it seems like he's simply walking down the street.

He hears them first - the footsteps and the whispers. Immediately, we're on edge, both diving into an alleyway between two stone buildings.

"This way…it's just a bit further." I have to strain my ears to hear them. Beside me, the Blue Spirit nudges me with an elbow to get my attention. He points up, and I realize he intends for me to climb up to the roof of the building. It's fairly effortless for him - he takes a running start at the wall and gets high enough to grab onto the ledge of a window. I'm not nearly as acrobatic, but I use my water to propel myself up, enough that he can pull me up by the arm the rest of the way.

As soon as we're on the roof looking down on another alley, I'm glad we opted for the high ground. Below, hooded people in robes are trickling into the side entrance of one of the neighboring buildings.

"Red Lotus?"

He nods. The people at street level are careful, constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure they aren't being followed. They stop for a few moments at the door, and from what I can make out, it seems the person there is asking them some kind of question. That makes sense, I suppose - some kind of password or something. Once there are no longer people in the alley, the Blue Spirit stands up and backs away from the edge of the building. In what looks like a single, fluid motion, he goes into a run and jumps to the other side. I'd be lying if I didn't say I envy his skill a little. Encasing my arms in water tentacles, I run and push myself off the roof with them, landing with a roll on the other side.

Lucky for us, there's a window not too far down from the roof, protected only by a wooden shutter. After some careful prying with one of his swords, we're inside, cloaked completely in darkness. Wherever we are appears to be some kind of storage room, and I guess the building is probably some kind of weapons shop based on the inventory. The walls do a good job of keeping the noise from making its way to the street, but once we're inside we can hear the low hum of a crowd. The Blue Spirit eases the window shut as I start to make my way out the door. The entire building is blacked out, except for a soft light coming from somewhere on the ground floor. At the top of the stairs, we're covered from whatever is going on below. In the low light, I count about ten or so people. This is nothing compared to the last Red Lotus meeting I crashed - it's a small comfort, but I'll take it.

"Friends! I'm glad you could all make it."

There's a soft murmur of agreement.

"I've called this emergency meeting tonight because we've received word from the Master Lotus. His forces are on the move." The murmurs turn into sounds of excitement. "We are to meet the main forces in Ba Sing Se at the end of this month."

"What about our original orders?"

"Those still stand. We still have that training camp to deal with. By the time we're through, we'll ensure Ba Sing Se will receive no reinforcements. The Red Lotus will be victorious!"

Again, only excitement follows the announcement. Our camp is in danger, and something tells me the few gathered here don't make up the entirety of the Red Lotus supporters in the area, or they wouldn't be sounding this confident.

"We have to do something." I can barely hear my own words as I whisper. For a second, I think the Blue Spirit doesn't, until he slowly shakes his head and starts to head back to the room with the window. "But we can take them! Or do you have another small army to back you up again?"

He hesitates at the door, as if to say no, he doesn't. He glances towards the window for a moment before turning back to me again, lifting a finger to the mouth of his mask. Signaling me with his hands, he points out the three people closest to the bottom of the steps, then at two more near the store's entrance.

"Attack on the count of three?"

He nods and starts to count with his hand. Quickly and silently, we split. Lucky for me, the dim lighting casts a heavy shadow on the stairs, so I'm completely unseen on the way down. On the other side of the room, the Blue Spirit climbs down the wall and lands with complete silence. I can't see him past the group in the center of the room, but the sound of a falling body signals me to attack. He knocks four of the members out with quick jabs, so it looks like they're simply passing out. The rest begin to panic, and I have to move faster. There isn't enough water in the room to freeze the members, so I do my best to use what I have conservatively. I grab a young woman standing near the stairs by the waist with a water tentacle and pull her towards me. She's took focused on her fallen comrades to notice me. Her body takes two others with her, and I smack them against the wall. The three fall unconscious, and just like that the Blue Spirit and I have taken their numbers down by over half.

The leader - an elderly man with a cane - is very obviously not a fighter. He stands behind the other two remaining members. Beside me, the Blue Spirit draws his Dao sword, and I realize he has more than one. Without giving our opponents a chance to move, he lunges at the nearest one, who's equipped with a staff. I catch a glimpse of him slicing and dicing the wooden weapon to pieces before the remaining member attacks me. She doesn't bend at me, and instead focuses on trying to hit me with quick jabs. My opponent is much quicker than I am, too, and I struggle to continue dodging, to get far enough away to be effective with my water. I'm backed up against a wall in minutes, and I catch another glimpse of the Blue Spirit taking down his opponent and chasing after the leader.

I'm forced to put up an ice wall to shield myself from a kick. She kicks against it, knocking me back. Winded from the impact against the wall, I don't react fast enough and she jabs my shoulders, continuing her barrage down my arms and finishing with a punch to my gut. When I fall to my knees, I can barely hold myself up. My attacker doesn't bother lingering, turning in place and running after the Blue Spirit and her leader. I push myself up off the floor, doing my best to run after them, attempting to at least see which way they went. Outside, the street is empty.

My head is spinning - exhaustion creeping up on me as my body turns more sluggish by the second. I try to bend some water to heal my sore muscles, but it doesn't budge. In the street, I'm a sitting turtleduck. I can feel myself growing fainter, and I need to find some place to rest, to hide - at least until my bending returns.

* * *

Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

I thought I'd get this one up much sooner - it's a smidge shorter than usual, but that's because I had to cut myself off. It might be a couple of days before I get another one up (I'm working out the next few chapters and trying to get my ideas straight) but I'm shooting for another by the end of the week.

Thanks to everyone who's been following/reviewing the story! I'm loving the feedback :)

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

I'm able to at least get to the outskirts of the town, unwilling to let myself be caught on the street. My body finally gives out, though, and before I know it I'm crawling into the nearest bush, doing what I can to hide myself and wait out the exhaustion.

I didn't mean to fall asleep.

When I wake up, it's still dark. My entire body is sore, but not too sore for me to shoot upright. The first thing I notice is that I'm no longer in the bush, but by the lake again - the second is that I'm not alone. A couple of yards away, there's a figure sitting on the ground, facing me. The Blue Spirit stares at me, unnerving as ever. I scramble away, realizing my straw hat and veil no longer cover my face. Without thinking I reach up to my cheek with my hands - I'm still covered in mud.

To my surprise, he reaches behind his head and undoes the ribbon holding the mask in place. He pulls down the hood of his suit, releasing a mass of jet-black hair. My heart is in my throat when he removes the mask and looks over at me.

"Do you know who I am?" His voice is raspier than usual, and for a second I'm stunned - until I realize what his question means. He doesn't know who _I_ am. My eyes linger on his scar - I still can't believe it's him - before I finally find my voice.

"Yes." I keep my voice a whisper, trying to make it as different as I can from the one I use in camp. "Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation."

He notices my stare, and his fingertips come up to brush his scar. When he shifts in place, his whole body stiffens, contracting. Zuko grimaces, face reflecting pain. His hand reaches for his shoulder, and that's when I realize he only has one sword now and he's bleeding.

Forgetting myself, I rush over, standing behind him to get a look at his wound. "What happened?"

"Got caught off-guard. She took one of my swords, cut my shoulder before getting away." He tries to move the arm, but cries out in pain instead.

"She-she blocked my bending but maybe..." I try to summon water from the waterskin, relief washing over me when it moves as easily as if nothing happened. Encasing my hand in glowing water, I place it on his shoulder. His body relaxes, a sigh escaping him.

"What's your name?"

My real name hangs in my throat - I can't give it to him. If Sokka's as vocal about our family as Toph says, something tells me Zuko will figure it out much too easily. Although he's from the Fire Nation and has no problem with female warriors, as the prince and a commanding officer in the United Republic army, he's obligated to uphold the laws of the treaty. He notices my hesitation.

"At least give me something to call you other than 'Painted Lady'?" Zuko shifts again, trying to turn around to look at me. I hold him in place, though - his wound hasn't healed completely.

"Kya. You can call me Kya." My mother's name slips from my lips before I can take it back or think of something different.

"Thank you, Kya." His wound is closed, his skin perfect again in the gap left in his shirt.

"Of course, Prince Zuko." I pull away, switching my focus to easing the pain in my arms. How late is it? The moon is still the only light in the sky, but I can't let myself relax. I need to get back to camp without Zuko noticing. "But I should be thanking you - for not leaving me behind."

He waves his hand, dismissing my thanks. "Just call me Zuko."

I don't respond, instead standing up and making my way over to where my straw hat lays on the ground. Turning around, I finger the rim nervously, trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do next. Would he let me just leave?

"What were you doing - following those men outside the Fire Nation Capital?"

"I thought that was obvious. I have my own personal problems with the Red Lotus- was trying to make a dent in their ranks." I feel much better once the straw hat is back on my head, the veil a thin barrier between us, but a barrier nonetheless. Just for good measure, I put more distance between us, making my way closer to the lake and bending some more water to heal my legs.

"And what are you doing here now?"

"Following a lead." I fight the urge to tell him to mind his own business. After all, the Red Lotus _is_ his business, as our commanding officer.

"You should be more careful - and not just with them." He lifts his hood again, tucking his hair in before covering his face with the mask again. "The army won't take kindly to your interference."

"I know. I saw your camp. I'm keeping my distance." The lie comes easily, and he seems to buy it. Zuko really doesn't suspect that I'm one of his soldiers.

"Good." Zuko stands up somewhat stiffly, wincing as he rolls the shoulder I healed once he's upright. He slips the Blue Spirit mask back into place.

"You shouldn't go on these missions alone, you know." I don't know where the words come from, but I'm helpless to stop them. Even though I know who's behind the mask now, it makes it no less unnerving when he simply stares at me. He doesn't respond to my concern and instead leaves, silent as ever. I wait at least a half hour before making my way back to the camp, until I'm absolutely sure Zuko hasn't lingered, waiting for me to go somewhere. After wiping my face and arms of the mud I used to disguise myself, I hurry back to camp, hoping Zuko is long asleep.

* * *

I feel like I've only slept a couple of hours when Toph shakes me awake, per our usual routine, and I have to fight to stay awake while we eat breakfast. Sokka joins us again, but he doesn't seem to notice. As soon as he leaves to begin his own daily training routines, though, Toph speaks up.

"You know, you wouldn't be this tired this morning if you hadn't stayed out so late last night…" She's done with her food now, a satisfied look on her face as she pushes her plate away.

"What?"

"You heard me - your loud stomping around woke me up last night." She stretches, starting to get up. "What were you doing, anyway? There's no way your training ran that late."

"I-" Before I can finish the word, I catch a glimpse of Zuko making his way to the cook, grabbing his own plate of food. This is the latest I've ever seen him get his food - actually, this is the first time I've ever seen him at breakfast. The bags under his eyes make me wonder how much later he was up after returning to his tent.

"Interesting. What's with that heartbeat, Kuruk?" Toph snaps me out of my observation, nearly making me jump. She's smirking, raising her eyebrow. "Don't tell me you-"

"Shut up, Toph." I stand up, suddenly energized by my own embarrassment. "Let's go - or did you forget we have evaluations today?"

Toph groans, but follows me to where others have already started lining up. Evaluation day isn't something I've been exactly looking forward to. Any improvement in my hand to hand combat has been pretty minimal, and I still can't get that stupid knife down from the pillar. My only saving graces are my bending and my survival skills. It doesn't make it any easier that both Master Pakku and Zuko will be looking on while we go through the motions. Both of them have to give us the go ahead or we won't be allowed to continue our training and be fully admitted to the army.

I can't help my nervous heartbeat as both the men in question stand before us and begin to call our names. Thankfully, Toph chooses, for once, not to comment.

"Kuruk of the Southern Water Tribe!" My stomach sinks when Master Pakku calls the name, and I'm almost dragging my feet as I make my way over. Before, even when signaled out, I was just a face in the crowd. Now, with both of them fully focused on me and my performance, I feel unbearably exposed. What if I slip up? What if they notice?

"Sir." I bow before Master Pakku.

"I see Sokka has graded your skills fairly high." He doesn't sound at all pleased by it, and I wonder if he's looking for a reason to kick me out. I stay silent. "Alright - begin your demonstration. Bending first, and then you'll have hand-to-hand combat." I'm supposed to follow along with Pakku's bending, and then complete a course. We both move farther away from Zuko and the rest of the bending masters. He assumes his stance, standing in front of a barrel full of water. I follow, standing in front of my own barrel.

He starts with basic motions, moves meant to show that I can take and maintain control of the water with ease. It's simple enough - Hama taught me these when I was just starting to seriously practice bending. Pakku seems frustrated by the ease with which I handle the water. He suddenly launches into more complicated motions, intermittently freezing and melting the water, making it a bit more difficult to keep up but I manage. When we're done, I'm panting for breath and he's a bit more satisfied, though he does a decent job of covering it up.

The course I have to follow is made up of obstacles created by a group of earthbending soldiers. They're quick, but I'm quicker. I take down over twenty stone dummies, all coming at me from different directions. Once again, I'm panting when I'm done and my body is sore all over. Worse than before, I'm starting to really feel the effects of my late night.

Next is hand-to-hand combat, and I'm either really lucky or supremely unfortunate that it's against Zuko. He doesn't look as bad as he did at breakfast, but he's still very obviously tired. From watching him spar the rest of the recruits, it's clear to anyone who's looking that his shoulder is bothering him. They give me a minute to catch my breath before the sparring match starts.

We bow, and Zuko makes the first move. Rather than simply dodge the punch, I duck and sweep with a leg, catching him somewhat off-guard. My leg doesn't find its target, though, Zuko easily moving fast enough to recover from the momentary surprise. I'm too tired from keeping up with Pakku to put up much of a fight, so it isn't long before Zuko overpowers me. I do manage to get one hit in - his shoulder falters and I easily deflect the punch, managing to punch him in the jaw. A second later, though, I'm on my back, completely winded and coughing. They call the match - I've lost.

Last, but definitely not least, is that damn pillar. So far, none of the other recruits managed it.

"That's enough - you can pack your bags." I'm surprised when it isn't Master Pakku's voice dismissing me, but Zuko's.

"What?" I'm the first person they've dismissed this way. Everyone else got the opportunity to retrieve the knife. The prince simply stares at me, revealing nothing in his expression.

"You heard Prince Zuko - you're dismissed." Master Pakku looks on, apparently bored. I resist the urge to glare at the waterbending master.

"Sir, if I may, he hasn't completed the evaluation." Sokka attempts to at least give me a chance. I shoot him a grateful look.

"Kuruk's performance is barely passable - he wouldn't stand ten minutes in combat, and I'm sure he won't succeed in the pillar exercise." I bite back a retort at Master Pakku's words, keeping myself under control by clenching my fists, digging my nails into the palms of my hands. Wouldn't stand ten minutes…if only he would have seen me the night before.

"Sir - please allow me the opportunity to complete the evaluation." I don't direct my request to Master Pakku, but to Zuko. His face is stone, but there's weariness there. He's paler than usual, too. I can't help the concern on my face as my eyes dart to his shoulder - there's a scar there now, pink and raw from all the moving around he's done all morning. It's clearly irritated and still bothering him. "Sir?"

"Fine." Something flashes in his eyes - something defensive. He doesn't want attention brought to his shoulder, for obvious reasons, and I'm pretty sure that's the only reason he allows me to try. "You have one chance to get the knife. One."

I nod before bowing, making my way over to the pillar, kneeling down to grab the weights. One chance. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. Everyone is watching, but I try to block out the murmurs, to pretend that I'm by myself. _I can do this_. When I open my eyes and look down at the weights, a sudden idea strikes me. He said we _needed_ both to get to the top. They aren't meant to weigh us down - they're meant to help us up. This time, I grip the ribbon, tightening its hold on my wrists, before swinging my arms up and around the pillar. On the other side of the pillar, the weights cause the ribbons to knot together.

Swinging my arms up, I brace myself against the ribbons and start to push myself up with my feet. It's slow going, but I need to take my time - if I fall, that's it for me. Once or twice, I stumble and the stone scrapes my face, cutting the skin. By the time I've made it all the way up, I can feel the blood tricking down my neck from cuts all over my cheeks. Once I'm sitting securely at the top of the pillar, I grab the knife and throw it so it lands five feet in front of Zuko.

Getting down is much easier, and once my feet hit the ground, I let out a sigh of relief. My wrists hurt from the strain, but I'm satisfied at the surprised looks on Master Pakku's and Zuko's faces. I put the weights back in their place and make my way over to them.

"Congratulations. You may continue your training."

* * *

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A million thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Definitely didn't mean to wait this long to put up an update! Sorry about that...

Things are heating up - slowly - but heating up nonetheless!

Thanks (again) to everyone who's been following/reviewing the story! You guys keep me going, as always.

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

After almost a solid month of non-stop training, I almost don't believe when Prince Zuko and the other commanding officers give us the rest of the day off after evaluations. Everyone dispersed almost immediately afterwards - even Master Pakku - so I don't know that anyone noticed the way Zuko moved, the level of his exhaustion. He heads back to his own tent, and it's not until after he's out of sight that I realize Toph is trying to get my attention.

"Hello?" She snaps her fingers in my ears, making me jump.

"What?"

"I said - some of the others want to head into town for the afternoon. Want to come along?" Toph motions over to where Smellerbee is talking to some of the other recruits. Even though I've been here so long already, the two of them were really the only ones I bothered talking to. For obvious reasons, I've kept to myself.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Oh come on - none of them will find out."

"Toph…"

"Seriously! Stop being such a stick in the mud and live a little." She drags me back to our tent, where the others are already changing into street clothes. I manage to get away with wearing a pair of Sokka's old pants and one of his shirts. Everything is still just slightly big on me, but I manage. Lucky for me, Toph can't actually see or I know I'd never hear the end of it.

It seems nearly everyone at camp got the same idea - it's a mass exodus into town, loud and obnoxious. I make myself as small as I can, trying to blend into the crowd and avoid detection by anyone who might have witnessed what happened the night before. Zuko never mentioned - and I hadn't bothered to ask - what happened to those last to Red Lotus members. I can guess they got away, though.

"That was really impressive, by the way." At some point during the walk, I must have tuned everyone out. I'm only brought back to the conversation by Toph's elbow in my ribs. She's not the one speaking though - it's Rina.

"What was?"

"The pillar! I don't think anyone else would have gotten even close if you hadn't figured it out." Behind me, Toph snickers.

"Oh…yeah. I don't know. Someone would have gotten it eventually…" I shrug, trying to divert the conversation. "You were pretty impressive, too."

Rina's eyes light up, and I regret everything. She inches just a bit closer, and I'm suddenly feeling uncomfortable. I catch glimpses of Sokka near the front of the group, chatting up a brown-haired girl I've never seen before. She doesn't really seem that interested, but my brother either ignores the hints or misses them completely. If only we could switch.

"Um, Chan and Jinzuk did really well, too. I'm surprised you guys picked up the nonbending stuff so quick. Took me forever to figure out how to do certain things without waterbending." I'm scrambling to figure out a way to disappear again, but there's nothing I can do. Letting any other words I might have said die in my throat, I stare ahead.

Some minutes later, we're walking into town. There's an air of excitement, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the events of the previous night. I find myself walking towards the shop where the meeting took place, if only to see if it was open.

"Kuruk, where are you going?"

"There's a weapons shop I wanted to check out." It's a relief when Rina doesn't want to tag along, opting instead to check out the food markets. To be honest, I don't blame her - the gruel they feed us can only do so much. As soon as I'm done checking the shop, my first stop will definitely be a pastry stand.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who knows about the shop, as a few of the other recruits head in the same direction along with some of the soldiers. I recognize two of the female soldiers as the ones that were with Zuko during the first day - Mai and Ty Lee. Are they here on his orders to check on the place? Do they even know he masquerades as the Blue Spirit? It only then occurs to me that someone has to know, or he wouldn't have had that small army outside the Fire Nation Capital all those weeks ago. If they do know, they don't give anything away, keeping to themselves as they enter the building.

I'm surprised to see that it's open. Inside, it's as if nothing happened. Every shelf is in place and none of the weapons show any sign of having been disturbed in the fight that happened here. However, the person behind the counter isn't the elderly man who led the previous night's meeting. Instead, there's a younger man, maybe closer to my age. He looks surprised to see this many people enter his shop at once, and I wonder if he's a Red Lotus member too.

"Hey - I was wondering if you carry any Water Tribe boomerangs?" Hahn's voice rings out from the crowd in the shop towards the man behind the counter. He's standing in front of some throwing knives and daggers. It seems his voice breaks the tension in the room, and there's almost and imperceptible sigh of relief in the atmosphere.

I let myself get lost in the crowd inside the shop, wandering between aisles and inspecting some of the armor. There's an interesting chest plate on display near the counter - a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that reminds me a little of home - that catches my attention. Before I know what I'm doing, I'm standing in front of it, scrutinizing it and considering actually spending some of my not-so-abundant money on it. My Painted Lady get-up isn't exactly protective wear, and I could definitely use it after the previous night's excursion.

"…still recovering from last night. They did some damage." This close to the counter, I catch pieces of a conversation happening on the other side. There's a door cracked open slightly, and I catch a glimpse of a man sitting down. "My daughter fought them off, but…"

"Can I help you with something?" The boy on the other side of the counter snaps me back to attention. Behind him, the door closes.

"Oh - no. I'm just looking." I attempt to smile, hoping I simply looked like I was spaced out.

So she managed to fight Zuko off? Was he hurt worse than he'd let on? Once the boy behind the counter is satisfied that I don't need his help, I start to inch away. I nearly walk into somebody seconds later, though. Near the door, hanging in a display, is a familiar sword. It's identical to Zuko's, and clearly missing its second half. Suddenly glad that the place is so crowded, I make my way over to it as casually as possible. By the counter, the boy is still looking out over the crowd, eyes sharp and focused.

"Hey, what's the difference between these two?" Hahn carries two different boomerangs to the counter, and I've never been more grateful for his presence. Just as he's distracting the boy at the counter, I grab the sword and slip it into my satchel. To keep from being suspicious, I linger in the store a little while longer, looking at some of the spears on the other side of the room.

I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders once I'm across the street from the shop. Most of the other soldiers and recruits have left the shop by now, as well. When I look back, Mai and Ty Lee are still in the store, lingering near some armor. Following the crowd, I eventually find Toph and the others again. To my relief, Rina isn't anywhere near them. They're sitting in an outdoor eating area of a pub, chatting excitedly.

"Where have you been?"

"Sorry, got lost on the way back."

She raises a brow, and I nearly forget that she can detect lies. Toph doesn't call me out on it, though, and instead returns her attention to the food in front of her. As if reminding me that I'm hungry, my stomach growls, prompting me to jump up and find something to eat before sitting back down again.

Even though I'm itching to get back to the camp, I let myself relax a little. We don't know when our next day off is going to be - if we even get one - so I let Toph drag me around all over town. I expect to hear something about the Red Lotus, or even a hint that others know about what happened the previous night, but there's hardly even a hint of it other than the conversation I overheard at that shop. It's suspicious, to say the least, and I wonder if there's any way for me to get that information back to Zuko without giving myself away.

By the time we're heading back to the camp, there's an air of satisfaction and ease about us. It's like we're not even training for war. Everyone's showing off the things they bought in town, exchanging stories of stuff they saw during the day. At some point, Sokka must have gotten through that girl, because they're now deep in conversation - she even laughs at some of his awful jokes.

"Ka-Kuruk! I want to introduce you to Suki!" Sokka grabs me by the shoulders, pulling me in close. I wonder if he's been hitting cactus juice again. Is that even allowed during military service?

"Hi." She's friendly enough, smiling at me and extending a hand.

"I'm sorry if he's bothering you." I smiled back, shaking her hand. "He can be a bit much."

"Hey!" Sokka glares at me, but with a single look he shrinks back.

Suki laughs, directing her attention back to me. "So what made you sign up? I know Sokka just does it for the glory…"

Ignoring my brother's protests, I answer her question. "Duty, I guess? Got tired of sitting around at home, to be honest. Never much liked sitting on the sidelines."

"I know what you mean. I don't know what I'd do if I was Water Tribe. No offense." She put up her hands, looking between me and Sokka. "I just mean, as a girl, it would drive me nuts. Back home, we have an entire fighting unit - the Kyoshi Warriors - made up exclusively of women."

"Don't worry about it." I wave her concern away. "I'm not a fan of that particular rule, if I'm honest. Sokka's sister would be here fighting if it didn't exist."

"Your sister can fight? I thought…" She turns her attention to Sokka.

"We didn't grow up within the tribe - some crazy lady in the Fire Nation taught her." Sokka glares at me, apparently uncomfortable with how closely I was skirting to the truth. "Anyway, she's not here. Probably sitting around at home cooking or something."

The comment apparently annoys Suki, but she doesn't say anything.

It's dark by the time we're back at camp. Not that many people returned with our group, so it's even quieter than usual. I have to struggle to stay awake while I wait for everyone to fall asleep. I'm most cautious with Toph - there'll be no hiding from her if she catches me in the act - and I wait until her snores reverberate through the entire tent before I finally risk taking the sword out of my satchel and slipping it into another bag. My Painted Lady robe bunched up in my arms, I slip out of the tent and silently make my way towards the lake. At least this time around I can do my costume properly, disguising my features much better than the previous night. In the reflection of the lake, I hardly look like myself, let alone the version I'm passing off as Kuruk. Hat and veil in place, I grab the bag with the sword in it and make my way back to the camp.

It's still quiet, for the most part. There's some movement in Zuko's tent, though, so I'm reluctant to go in. Walking along the back of the tent - the side that doesn't face the rest of the camp - I get as close as I can and listen in.

"We should be sending over half these children _home_." Master Pakku's voice practically oozes disdain. He seems to be the only other person there, apart from Zuko.

"They've progressed well, Master Pakku. There's no reason they can't stay."

"You actually think they're fit for war?"

"They're willing to put their lives on the line!" There's silence in the tent, tension clear even from my spot outside. The strain in Zuko's voice makes it clear that he's still hiding the extent of his injuries, even from Pakku.

"Are you sure you're fit to lead them Prince Zuko?" Including his title only thinly veils the disrespect in Pakku's voice. "Your uncle might be putting too much stock in your abilities." Silence follows the waterbending master's comment. A moment later, he's stomping out of Zuko's tent, anger clear in every footstep. Peeking around the corner of the tent, I watch as Pakku stalks away. He's long out of sight before I finally crouch along the bottom of the tent, trying to find a gap for me to slip the bag with the sword.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Behind me, the prince's voice makes me freeze in place. "Kya?"

At the sound of my mother's name, I relax. I quickly stand up, holding his sword in front of me like a life line. Whispering, I respond, "I found your sword - wanted to return it."

"This is keeping your distance?" he receives the sword with his uninjured arm, shouldering the satchel. "How did you find my tent?"

"You're the prince and it's the nicest one - not exactly difficult." I continue to keep my voice low, my head tilted down so that the hat covers me in shadow. "I should go - before they catch me."

"Wait." He calls out just as I'm about to rush back into the forest. "Could you…could you heal me? Please? My shoulder still isn't working properly…and…" He pulls his robe back, revealing a pitiful bandage job around his torso. The bandage is nearly entirely red.

"How did this happen?"

"Doesn't matter - just heal it." He practically barks the order at me, only offering a mumbled "please" as an afterthought when I don't move. I'd hardly reached him when he started to fall.

"Okay, relax." I bring his good arm around my shoulder and help him move into the tent through the back entrance.

"L-lock it." He gestures to the two entrances, and I do as he says. When I turn to look at him again, he's lying on his cot.

"I need to clean this." Though I know it's a bad idea in the well-lit tent, I remove the hat. Hoping my movement and his exhaustion will keep his focus from my face, I get to work. His bandages are stuck to him, crusted and matted with blood. It's a couple of minutes before I'm able to pull them apart, clean the new wound, and replace them. I heal him over the bandages, but this injury is much deeper than the shoulder, and he went without attention to it for too long. "You need to be careful - no unnecessarily extraneous movements for at least a couple of days. And go see a healer tomorrow. There's only so much I can do."

"Th-thanks." He sits up, and I back away. Zuko's much too close to my face, and I need to put more distance between us.

"By the way - I found your sword in that shop today. They're still open for business even after what happened."

"I know - I had some of my soldiers check it out." So Mai and Ty Lee _were_ sent by him.

"Do they know - what you did yesterday?"

"No." He groans.

"Prince Zuko!" Outside, I hear my brother's voice calling from the door. Without a word, I run out the back of the tent, closing it behind me. "There's news from General Iroh!"

A moment later, Sokka's inside the tent. "What is it Sokka?"

"We're being re-assigned. They want us closer to Ba Sing Se." Silence descends upon the tent, and after a muttered order from Zuko, Sokka's outside again. I rush into the trees, and I'm hiding in the dark when Zuko reappears behind his tent, gold eyes scanning the area.

* * *

Let me know what you think!

A million thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

I'm absolutely awful - I definitely didn't intend to let so much time pass between updates, but here we are. Real life caught up with me, but I promise this story isn't going to be abandoned! If you want to keep up with me outside of fanfiction, check out fictiontrials dot wordpress dot com - all of my original writing is there, and I give occasional updates on the state of my fanfiction. You can also find me (and some art for my fanfiction) on tumblr, as plumdwarf.

I apologize for any and all mistakes/typos - it's almost 3AM and I've proofread as best as I can. Feel free to point out errors.

As always, thank you for keeping up with my story! It means a lot that you guys are sticking with it :)

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

"K-Kya - I know you're still there…" He must have moved faster than I thought when Sokka left his tent. Zuko's golden eyes are still searching the shadows of the trees, passing over where I stand, but I'm sure he's not bluffing. His body slumps against a tree at the edge of the shadows - he's definitely injured himself by moving too quickly. Without thinking, I leave the safety of the dark and walk back over to him.

"What part of 'no unnecessarily extraneous movements' didn't you understand?" My whisper is harsher than I intend it to be, and for a second I think Zuko will get angry at the reprimand. Instead, he continues to just stand there.

"Couldn't exactly let you get away, could I?" At his words, I take a step back. I'd been about to help him back into his tent, but now I'm reluctant to go near him. Even in his injured state, he could overpower me if I let my guard down. Is that what he intends to do?

"Why not?"

"I need your help. Obviously." He tries to stand straighter, only succeeding in straining himself before he collapses at the bases of the tree. A grunt punctuates his fall, and I have no choice but to go over to him.

"Obviously." I bend some water onto my hand and crouch beside him. Pushing his robe aside, I notice he's already irritated the skin around the bandage. "I have to remove the bandage and heal directly on your skin or it'll get infected. Do you mind?"

He starts to shrug out of his robe.

"Let me." I stop him, before moving to maneuver the robe off his shoulders and down his arms. A thin sheet of cold sweat has developed on his skin - it's a wonder Sokka didn't notice. "It's a good thing the bleeding's stopped."

I fold his robe into a makeshift pillow to slide under his head once he's lying down. Everything is silence, save for the sounds of the night - it's an all too familiar moment, reminiscent of the previous night. These encounters are becoming too frequent.

"I've been thinking about what you said." His voice catches me off-guard, and I look down to where his face is lit in the moonlight. Zuko's eyes are closed, and he looks strangely unguarded, even though he's in pain. The expression takes years off his face, making him look more like the young adult he is instead of a battle-hardened soldier.

"I'm sorry?"

"About working alone - you're right. I shouldn't be going on these missions by myself." And suddenly this injury I didn't notice the previous night makes all the sense in the world.

"Is that what happened? You went back into town after I healed you last night?" I can't help the annoyance in my tone, but I'm not entirely sure why it's there. Bending some more water, I refocus my efforts on the wound.

He doesn't say one way or another. Instead, he continues speaking as if I hadn't asked a question. "Will you come to Ba Sing Se? I know you heard the conversation in my tent."

"You want me to follow your camp?" I sit back on my heels, giving my hands a break.

With some effort, he manages to sit up and lean against the tree trunk. "Yes."

"I don't think that'll work out very well for me." I didn't exactly intend to run around as the Painted Lady in Ba Sing Se - not with the chance of running into Zuko as the Blue Spirit again. And yet here he is asking me to do just that. "I'm a female waterbender - aside from illegal interference in military operations, every Water Tribesman in your camp will ask for my head simply because I'm a woman."

"That's not stopping you from being here now." Another wince, this time accompanied by a cough.

"Only because you needed my help." Hands rested, I move to continue healing his side. This time, my face is almost level with his.

"I still do." His words are hardly a whisper, and I can tell he has trouble asking for help.

"You have an army at your disposal - why not ask them for help?"

"They're not authorized for combat yet-"

"I'm not even military!" His wound is about as healed as it's going to get from my water at this point, so I stop my bending, putting the leftover water back in my waterskin.

"-and I don't intend for anyone else to find out about my activities as the Blue Spirit." Bracing himself against the tree, he pushes himself up. I bend down to pick up his robe, and when I'm upright again, he's inches from my face, still leaning against the tree. This up close, the reason for his request is clearer than daylight. Zuko's eyes, though perpetually determined, hold a hint of something else - fear. Maybe his injuries gave him an unexpected dose of fear.

"Zuko…" I sigh his name, fully aware that I can't say no. I've never turned my back on someone who needs me, and I won't start now. Besides, it's not like I'd be going out of my way to get to Ba Sing Se. "Alright. I'll tag along."

"How will I know?"

"You have my word. I'll come to you." I hand him his robe before helping him make his way back into the tent. As I walk him to the bed, I'm careful not to agitate his wounds further. "Remember - take it easy the next few days. See a healer if you can. I won't exactly be able to heal you on the road."

"Thank you, Kya." He sits on the bed, and it's only then I realize I'm still without my veil and hat. I left them in the tent when I ran out at the sound of Sokka's voice. Just as I'm about to pull away, Zuko grabs my wrist. "I can't help but feel like I've seen you somewhere else. Outside the Painted Lady get-up."

"I don't think so - I would remember having met the prince of the Fire Nation." But I'm lying - and it's not just from being in his camp as a recruit. I'm an idiot for not having taken that incident into account sooner. Dammit.

" _Come, Katara, we have to hurry." Hama's voice was urgent as she paced around her supply room, stocking her medicine bag with various cups and ointments. Outside, the royal guard was waiting for us with a carriage. I wasn't sure what was going on, since I hadn't been paying much attention to Hama's conversation with the guard from my spot in her garden, more intent on getting a particular waterbending move right. When she abruptly turned in place and hurried into her house, I quickly followed._

" _What happened?"_

" _We're needed at the palace." My stomach did an odd twist at her words, unsure of what that meant, exactly. Technically, there were no laws in the Fire Nation against women learning combative bending, but still. What if she'd gotten in trouble with the Water Tribe for teaching someone else? She seemed to sense my fear and dismissed it immediately. "It has nothing to do with us - now hurry up!"_

 _She handed me her medicine bag and I had no choice but to follow after her and into the carriage. The royal guard climbed in behind us. It was a tense and quiet ride, the guard clearly as uncomfortable as I was. When the carriage finally lurched to a stop, we were past the palace walls and in the main courtyard. This was farther than most people of Fire Nation descent ever dreamed of going into the palace. I had to stifle my amazement at the palace as I followed Hama and the guard out of the carriage and up the steps. At the top, an older, heavy-set man awaited us._

" _General Iroh." Hama bowed, and I followed suit, though I was unsure of who the man was. The name rang a bell, but I wasn't particularly versed in Fire Nation politics or warfare. I'd only been in the Fire Nation for a couple of months._

" _Lady Hama, thank you for coming on such short notice. Please excuse my abruptness. Come this way." He dismissed the guard and led us into the palace himself. "It's my nephew. He's suffered a severe burn."_

 _Wouldn't the Fire Nation palace have people on staff for things like burns? I didn't voice my question, thinking it best to just keep quiet and follow Hama's lead. All she did was ask for details of the injury - where was it, how did he get it, how much time passed before they retrieved us - while we walked through the palace halls._

 _Apparently his nephew had been in an Agni Kai, a fire duel, less than an hour before we arrived at the palace. The burn was across his left face. I winced at the description, trying to mentally prepare myself for the sight of it. Hama made sure I learned to heal, too, but I'd never healed anything as severe as the type of burn the general described._

 _When we stopped, we were in front of a large set of double doors. They opened into an extravagant room filled with cries of pain as people fussed around someone lying on the bed. The general was quick to dismiss them all, as well, so the only people left in the room were him, Hama, and me. On the bed was his nephew, breathing heavily from the pain and clutching his bed sheets. The skin on the left side of his face from his cheekbone to his brow was completely burned, the mark angry and red. It reached as far back as his ear and up to his hairline. They'd managed to shave his hair around the injury before we got there._

" _Katara, I need you to hold him down." Hama's suggestion that I try to overpower and restrain the injured firebender was more than enough to freeze me where I stood, but his cries spurred me to action. I did as she said, advancing on him and trying to keep his shoulders down. While she worked on his burned side, bending water to cool the skin. "General Iroh, if you could please?"_

 _The general was quick to help, helping me hold him down while Hama continued to waterbend._

" _Katara, go into my bag and pull out the vial with green liquid in it. It's a painkiller. I need you to bend it into his mouth." I let the general take over holding down his nephew while I rummaged in Hama's medicine bag. Pulling out the vial, I removed the stopper and bent the liquid out with one hand, keeping the medicine steady in midair as I approached the bed again._

" _Prince Zuko, this is going to help the pain. Please try to take it." Hama's voice nearly floored me. Prince Zuko? This was the prince of the Fire Nation?_

 _Snapping myself out of it, I cupped his chin in my hand. His teeth were clenched from the pain, so I had to help him pry his mouth open with my free hand before bending the medicine between his lips. He managed to swallow it, and the effect was almost instantaneous. His breathing slowed, and his good eye fogged over, sleepy. General Iroh released him, as the prince wouldn't be thrashing around anymore. He almost seemed relaxed if it wasn't for the pained expressions that would cross his face every few moments._

" _Pass me the burn ointment." I did as Hama asked again, passing her the jar of ointment and joining her on the other side of the bed. She instructed me on how to apply it properly, demonstrating with a dab of it before having me do the rest myself so she could speak to the general. I didn't pay much attention to the conversation, more focused on the task at hand as I bent over the prince._

 _He murmured something that sounded like "Thanks."_

" _Shh…" I did my best to soothe him, keep him from being too aware of what was going on. His good eye followed my face, though his gaze seemed unfocused, like he was watching me but not really seeing me. "It'll be okay."_

 _Hama wrapped his wound after telling the general how the prince would have to take care of it. About an hour after arriving at the palace, we were on our way out again._

It had been a brief encounter - and he'd been drugged for it - so could he possibly remember me? I never really thought I'd encounter the prince of the Fire Nation again, let alone in a setting of such close proximity. I'd been so caught up in my plan - in passing off as a man and trying to rescue my father - that I'd nearly forgotten that the prince himself might recognize me. After all, how many waterbenders lived in the Fire Nation?

"I'm sure we haven't met." Though if he's paying attention, he'll notice the pitch in my voice, the panic and need to leave his tent ASAP. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go - before another one of your men barges in here."

He releases my wrist a little reluctantly, and I have to contain my sigh of relief. Zuko seems to brush off the possible recognition, and I know it's because of his exhaustion. His eyes are already drooping again, so I grab my hat and blow out the candles in his tent before stepping outside, doing my best to secure the tent closed.

The next day, Zuko makes the announcement of our reassignment at breakfast, declaring that we need to depart immediately. Everyone in the camp is in a frenzy - less about being moved and more about the prospect of having more time off from training. I do my best to steer clear of Zuko, even though I continue to watch him when I can, checking up on how he seems to be doing. He almost catches me staring once, while everyone's loading up the carriages, but I manage to play it off.

"Any idea why we're being reassigned?" Toph and I have been loading the same cart with supplies for the better part of the last twenty minutes.

"No clue, just that they want us closer to Ba Sing Se." I shrug, wondering the same myself. Sokka hadn't given Zuko a reason when he delivered the news the previous night, but I was fairly sure it had something to do with the meeting we overheard in town. Toph must not be paying attention, or I'm getting better at lying.

"I did hear that there's a lot of Red Lotus activity there. Maybe we're just a precaution."

"Maybe." Did someone in Ba Sing Se find out about the Red Lotus' plan? There's no way Zuko could have gotten word to his uncle fast enough to garner such a quick response, right? We're almost a three day trip from Ba Sing Se, after all.

There's a nervous feeling in my stomach that won't stop twisting, though. Something about all of this feels off. I should be grateful that we're being relocated so close to where my father disappeared, but I can't help the apprehension. I excuse myself from Toph before seeking out my brother.

I find Sokka in one of the few tents still standing - he's looking over a map with Prince Zuko. Dammit.

They both look up at me when I enter the tent, and it seems I've interrupted their planning. Sokka's the one who speaks, "Did you need something, Kuruk?"

"Uh, Toph was wondering which tents we should start breaking down next. We're finishing up the last sleeping tent. But I can come back…" I start to make my way out of the tent, but Zuko straightens up from the table.

"That's alright. We were just finishing up. I have some details to go over with Master Pakku, anyway." He nods at Sokka before making his way across the tent. I bow as I move out of the way, but it's a fairly cramped space and I don't realize how small it is until he practically brushes me on his way out. Up close, it's obvious he's still in pain, though he hides it well.

Once he's out of earshot, Sokka speaks again. "What's up?"

"I have a bad feeling about Ba Sing Se."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you think it's weird that we're being brought in closer to the city? Why would it need extra protection or reinforcements? They have the Avatar and General Iroh's forces - why do they need us?"

Sokka's face darkens. "You think it might be a trap?"

"Maybe, I don't know." I walk deeper into the tent, so no one who passes by might hear. "A trap, or they're expecting something bad to happen. Either way, it's bad news."

"I think you might be onto something. Zuko and I just got done planning our route to the city - he wants to take this overpass here," he points at an area of the map, "even though it adds almost a whole day to the trip. The order wasn't an urgent one, so there's no rush to get there, but still. When I asked him why, he said he just wanted to be careful." He folds up the map, tucking it into his belt. "My bet is he suspects something, too, so he's taking a roundabout way to keep the enemy guessing."

I don't linger in the tent much longer, opting to keep my mind busy with the task of continuing to break down the camp.

* * *

Let me know what you think!

A million thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

It seems like I start every single one of these notes with "I'm awful" but it's the truth. I really do mean to update this more often, but alas the real world gets in the way more often than not. Being sick doesn't help, either.

Here's to updating more often!

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

Sokka heeds my warning - either that or Zuko ordered him to give the troops a talk before we head out for Ba Sing Se.

"Because we're a training unit - _especially_ because we're a training unit - we need to be on high alert in route to Ba Sing Se." He scans the crowd. Everyone listens intently, and I do my best not to shuffle nervously. Beside me, Toph looks bored. Sokka goes on for a while longer, explaining our route.

While he continues, I let my eyes wander to Zuko. For a minute, I wonder why he isn't looking into the crowd like the rest of the officers. Is he expecting something? Or is he checking to see if the Painted Lady is listening? Does he think Red Lotus might be listening in? My brother finishes his address and gives us ten minutes to prepare to head out.

"Looks like we're assigned to the same carriage." I get Toph's attention, attempting to make some conversation to break the silence that followed Sokka's speech.

"Yeah - something tells me Sokka did that on purpose." She shoulders her bag with her personal items. I pick mine up off the ground, suddenly very nervous that I'm carrying my Painted Lady gear around out in the open. Trying to forget my nerves, I distract myself by talking to Toph.

The evening goes by fairly quickly - we walk until I feel like I'm about to collapse from exhaustion. How much distance did we cover? It's a relief when Zuko gives the order to stop. We avoided the main routes the entire way, making our way through mostly wooded areas or long stretches of grasslands. When we finally make camp, though, it's along the edge of a forest with a thin creek running nearby.

Zuko seems more on edge than usual, which does very little as far as reassurance goes. Sokka, though also nervous himself, brushes off my concern. It's difficult not to feel like something awful is about to happen, though. Even the rest of the troops notice the general unease among the officers. The fire prince keeps looking at the tree line, as if waiting to spot something again. I comfort myself with the thought that he's hopefully keeping an eye out for me.

"Any idea why Zuko's acting so weird?" Toph sits across the small fire from me. We're the only ones awake in our section of the camp, assigned to guard duty for the past few hours.

"Between you and me, Sokka thinks he's nervous. This route was requested by the prince - he's being extra careful."

"Does he think we're walking into an ambush or something?" Toph plays with a rock hovering an inch from her hand, molding it into various shapes. She's clearly as bored as I am tired.

"I don't know." I sigh. "I just hope being near Ba Sing Se will get us closer to what happened to my dad." Thoughts of my dad are never far from my mind, and though I'm nervous about the reassignment to Ba Sing Se, I am glad to be getting closer.

"You going to abandon ship when we get there to go look for your dad?" Her tone is light, curious. The thought has crossed my mind, but my gut tells me to stay with the troops, so that's how I answer her.

"No. My best bet is probably to stay where the action is."

"Well if you do go, let me know." The response catches me off-guard.

"Why?"

"It might be more fun wherever you're going."

"You know the punishment for deserters, right?"

"You're one to talk." She whispers this lower than the rest of our conversation with a smirk. Our conversation is cut short when Suki and Chan show up to relieve us.

The nonbender smiles, still friendly, and Chan simply looks bored as he settles in by the fire where Toph was sitting. After a few words, Toph and I head back to our respective tents. Since we're traveling we don't have the time to set up the large community tents. That leaves us with smaller arrangements - some didn't even bother with their personal tents since the skies are clear. Toph, like most of the earthbenders, for example, decided to create a stone hut. After a quick good night to her, I retreat into my tent, grateful for the privacy it affords. At least I can sit around and worry in peace. I want to crawl into my sleeping bag and let myself sleep, but I can't - not yet, anyway.

Zuko didn't seem like his injuries were bothering him enough today to warrant a visit from Kya, but I still need to let him know that I'm following to Ba Sing Se. I wait until the camp quiets down again - until neither Suki nor Chan are making any sounds, before slipping into my robe and out the back of my tent into the forest. I stay in the trees, careful to be quiet, until I've gotten as close to Zuko's tent as I can risk. Master Pakku's tent sits right next to it. Taking a deep breath, I summon just enough water to form a thin whip I can slip between the fabric of the tent and the ground. The candle light within lets me know Zuko is still awake.

I freeze the water hoping he notices it, unable to do much else when I can't see it. A moment later, he walks out of the tent and towards the trees.

"Kya?"

"Just wanted to let you know I'm around." I don't leave the safety of the tree, but Zuko notices where my voice is coming from. Looking up, he spots me fairly easily.

"Thanks. Everyone is pretty on edge about the move. I appreciate you looking out for me."

"I noticed. Any particular reason why?"

He's reluctant to share the information, not that I can blame him. Despite the hesitation, though, he responds, "The summons to Ba Sing Se is suspicious to say the least. My uncle would have mentioned something in his most recent letter if there were any chance of being called in. It coincides a little too perfectly with what we overheard in that meeting."

Of course, he has the same suspicions I do.

"Did you tell your officers this?"

"I-" His answer is cut-off by a bell ringing from the center of the camp - the alarm signal. We're under attack. I jump down from the tree immediately, ready to head towards where people have already begun fighting.

"No. Stay hidden. If they see you…" Zuko stops me, pushing me back into the trees. Without giving me a chance to respond, he turns and runs in the direction of the action. I run through the trees, staying hidden on my way back to my tent. My section of the camp is practically empty, with a few waking stragglers joining the action late. Slipping back into my tent unnoticed, I manage to quickly change clothes and put my hair up before joining the fight.

The camp is in complete chaos. Benders of all kinds fight against our troops - even airbenders. I've never fought an airbender before, but I don't have enough time to think about it before she kicks a jet of air towards me. With barely enough time to dodge out of the way, I tuck and roll, summoning a waterwhip and shooting it back at her as I get up to my knees.

"Kuruk, look out!" Toph's voice rings out through the crowd. When I turn to see what she's referring to, there's a boulder shooting its way towards me. She's the only friendly earthbender nearby and she's too busy fending off her own opponent to redirect the boulder for me. My muscles tense as I prepare to catch the boulder. It's harder to do it this time, with all the chaos around us as the battle rages on, but I manage. Rather than bury it in the ground, though, I redirect its moment so that the boulder swings around me and at a nearby airbender.

I close the distance between me and Toph, the earthbender already looking tired. Thankfully, we managed to take most of our opponents down as the fighting moves closer to the camp's center. She puts up a small stone hut for cover before collapsing to her knees.

"We're outnumbered - there's no way we can fight them off." She's clutching her shoulder, a little bit of blood seeping through her clothes and fingers.

"No choice but to keep trying." I hurry to heal her as quickly as I can. The bleeding stops, but she still winces with each movement. "You can stay here if you want."

"Fat chance. Let's go." She brings the walls of the stone hut down and runs in the direction of the fighting. I follow, my arms encased in water tentacles.

In the center of the camp, everything is in total chaos. In the dark, it's difficult to tell who's friendly or not. A few tents have caught fire from stray firebending, though, lighting the area just enough for me to find Sokka. He and Suki are cornered a few yards away, outnumbered two to one. "We need to help Sokka and Suki!"

Toph stomps her foot to the ground, creating a small tremor as the earth comes up in waves. Somehow, she's able to distinguish between friendly soldiers and our attackers, because the earth stays flat under my feet, while throwing off the people around us. The tremor buys us enough time to make our way to my brother, while also giving the rest of our fellow soldiers a much-needed breather. Our opponents are back on their feet soon enough, but we make it to Sokka and Suki.

"Are you alright?" Sokka's frantic, lunging at an opponent with his sword. He ducks an attack and plunges the sword into his opponent's stomach, kicking the man off his sword.

"Yeah - how's it looking?" Toph takes down another two Red Lotus members. Behind her, Suki takes down a third.

"We're holding up, but I don't know how much longer this can go on."

"They just keep coming!"

Suki's right. She's climbed on top of a boulder, looking around the camp, her expression all the confirmation I need to go with her words. How many more could we be expecting?

Behind us, blasts of fire signaled Prince Zuko's involvement in the fight. I've never seen him fight at full-capacity, but it's amazing to watch. Even though I'm a safe distance from the fire, I can feel its heat. From a couple of attacks alone, he's already set fire to more than a few of the small tents, taking several opponents with them. Nearby, Mai and Ty Lee are also fighting. Zuko shouts something at Ty Lee, and she responds with a nod before going into more evasive maneuvers.

She approaches the nearest benders, but instead of engaging them in combat, she strikes a few times and moves on to the next. I've never seen someone move that fast. Before I even realize I'm doing it, I count fifteen downed opponents, struggling without the use of their bending. Others notice, too, and it seems to bring up morale for our troops. We rally around Prince Zuko, managing to take that section of the camp before the fire has damaged it beyond repair. Master Pakku leads another group a few yards away, close to the creek that runs by the camp. He and some of the other waterbenders manage to use it to flood the camp and overwhelm our attackers.

Our attackers start to fall back, running into the nearby forest. The fighting continues until there are only a few Red Lotus members left, but they're overwhelmed by us easily enough. One of them is an airbender, and I freeze him to the ground, making sure he won't go anywhere. Toph subdues a firebender in a similar way, burying him in the ground to his neck.

The rest are running away.

"Should we follow?" I look to Prince Zuko, and he seems to really consider the option. He takes a moment to survey the camp, though, noting the damage. There aren't that many left standing - maybe twenty or so soldiers and recruits combined. Several others are on the ground, their groans of pain floating in the air around us. Even though the enemy retreated, this doesn't feel like a victory. I don't want to think of how many we've probably lost.

"No - there are too many wounded. And we have them." He motions to the two Toph and I captured. "They'll just have to tell us what we need to know." Zuko's voice is exhausted, and it's only now I notice that he's badly bruised and his clothes are slick against his skin with some blood. "Ty Lee, Mai. Take these two and get all the information you can from them."

I release the airbender, and again Ty Lee moves faster that I expect and removes the man's bending. Mai ties his hands behind his back before they repeat the process with the firebender Toph caught. She's wincing again, and it looks like she's sustained even more injuries since I healed her arm. Zuko notices.

"Everyone who can - take care of the wounded first." His eyes scan the area before they stop at Master Pakku. "Master Pakku, I assume some of the waterbenders here can heal?"

The master waterbender blanches, for a moment apparently surprised by the question. "Possibly, but I doubt it. Our tribe doesn't teach the men to heal. That's a woman's duty."

Zuko seems ready to blast Pakku into oblivion. This time he directs the question to the entire camp. "Any waterbenders who can heal?"

"I can." When I volunteer, Sokka gives me a look of annoyance. I guess he wanted me to keep that to myself. It's not like I can, though - Smellerbee already saw me heal myself, and she'd probably call me out on it. Thankfully, a few other waterbenders also raised their hands.

Zuko puts me in charge of leading the healers, though I'm not sure why. I try not to give it too much thought, and instead focus on getting those who can help to gather the more seriously injured first. We've lost more people than not, and the injured are very gruesomely hurt. Many are so burned - both from fire and ice - that there's little we can do for them. There's blood everywhere, so much that I feel like all I can see is the color red, and all I can hear are the moans of pain. I try to separate my mind from it all, to simply let myself go into a trance so all I'm doing is going through the motions. I don't want to think about how much blood Chan lost, or how Rina might never be able to fight again.

"Are you alright?" Zuko's voice brings me out of my trance. When did I start healing him? The sky is gray with the coming dawn and he's one of the few people we haven't taken care of yet, having refused attention until everyone else was done.

"Y-Yeah. Just…"

"I know." I'm wrapping his forearm - his injuries aren't as bad as the others I healed - when he continues to speak. "You're doing well. The others are, too."

My hands shake despite his words, and I have to make a conscious effort to keep my hands steady. "Thanks."

Everything is sore, even my fingertips, by the time I've finished healing Zuko. There are still a few people left to be healed, but they're fairly easy. The sun has only just come over the horizon by the time the healers are allowed to rest.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it :)

A million thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

There is no excuse for how terrible I am at regular updates. To make up for it, here's a chapter that's about 1000 words longer than usual.

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Ten**

My entire body still aches when I wake up later that night. When I leave my tent, it looks like the camp has returned to some semblance of normalcy. The bodies of our fallen comrades have been taken away and buried by those who hadn't needed healing. Somewhere on the other side of the camp, I can hear my brother's voice ordering some of the recruits into building stone huts for everyone. Looks like this will be a regular practice now.

Upon hearing this, I start to break my tent down. My mind is in a daze while I work, and I'm so distracted that I jump when Toph suddenly appears in my peripheral.

"Hey - sorry. Didn't mean to sneak up on you." We both know she wasn't sneaking, but I'm glad for her sensitivity, uncharacteristic as it is.

"It's fine. - don't worry about it." My hands are still shaking a bit, and I wonder if Toph can sense it. In the dimming light, it's hard to read her facial expressions.

"Sokka was looking for you a while ago, by the way. Told me to let you know when you got up." The tone of her voice tells me I won't like whatever my brother has to say.

I finish taking my tent down and Toph builds me a new one in seconds. I store my things inside, taking a large piece of cloth to create a makeshift door. Toph goes off to help the others with new stone huts and I head out to look for my brother.

He's deep in conversation with Zuko when I find him, so I hang back some distance away to let them finish speaking uninterrupted. Fortunately or unfortunately, I overhear the end of it.

"This attack was much too well coordinated. They must have been following us a while." Sokka's voice is tired, and I wonder if he's gotten any sleep.

"Or someone leaked information." The prince only just conceals his anger, and I wonder if he suspects anyone. It's never occurred to me that there might be a traitor in the camp. If there were, at least the pool of possible candidates has greatly been reduced.

"You think there's a spy?" My brother lowers his voice, coming closer to Zuko.

"I don't know." Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly still exhausted. A heavy silence weighs on both of them, and I figure it's as good a time as any to make my presence known.

I clear my throat, "Sokka? Toph said you were looking for me."

"Oh, hey Kuruk." Almost immediately, his disposition changes - a fake cheeriness attempting to light his features. He should know better by now than to try lying to me.

At the sight of me, Zuko is suddenly tense. "Did you get enough rest?"

"Yes, I'm okay." I can't help but feel like I'm being scrutinized - does he think _I'm_ the traitor? Or worse - could he think Kya is? Trying to defuse the sudden tension, I speak again. "How are your injuries?"

"Fine."

Sokka seems to sense the edge in Zuko's demeanor, speaking up immediately after. "I was wondering if you could take another look at a couple of people. Some reopened their wounds trying to help rebuild the camp."

Something tells me that isn't everything Sokka called me for, but I latch onto the opportunity to leave Zuko's scrutiny. "Sure."

Zuko exchanges a look with Sokka and nods to me before leaving in the opposite direction. I wait until I know the prince is out of earshot and no one else can overhear before speaking again.

"So Zuko thinks there's a traitor?"

"How much of that did you hear?" Sokka looks over at me, shoulders sagging.

"Just the last bit. Anything I can do to help?"

"Actually, I want you to go home." He stops walking, turning to look at me. "It's too dangerous for you to stay, to go all the way to Ba Sing Se."

"I can't just leave-"

"I've already talked to Master Pakku and Zuko - you're all still trainees, they won't hold it against anyone if you choose to turn around. A couple of the injured need to be taken to the hospital near our old camp, you'd be going back with them."

"No." I cross my arms, daring him to say anything else. "There aren't many healers here, and I'm the best one you have! The danger is all the more reason to keep me around."

He sighs, rubbing his face with one hand.

"You know I'm right, Sokka." He doesn't say anything, so I take the opportunity to continue. "So where are they - the people you need me to heal?"

Turns out he really _did_ need me to heal a couple of recruits - the very same ones who are being sent to the hospital. I remember their injuries from the previous night. They were among the few who suffered from broken bones. Unfortunately for them, breaks can't be healed with water. I manage to ease their pain some, and heal some of the bruising, before re-doing their splints.

"Try not to move too much, okay? Those splints won't hold up against a lot of activity." There are also a few others - mostly earthbenders - who over-exerted themselves rebuilding the camp. It takes a little over and hour to treat them, but I don't call for any help. Healing gives me something to do, makes me feel useful where I'd otherwise be sitting around awaiting orders. By the time I'm done with the last patient, everyone in our makeshift medical tent is asleep, exhaustion and pain claiming them.

The camp is mostly quiet by the time I'm done, and the guard shifts are changing. One of the other healers shows up at the hut and tells me Sokka sent him to relieve me. When I leave the hut, Suki - who managed to get out of the fight nearly completely unscathed, is taking up the general guard with Sokka. Both of them sit by the fire, so I pass by before heading to my hut.

"How are they doing?" Sokka looks up from tending the fire.

"As well as can be expected. With some rest, most of them should be alright in a day or so." I don't linger for very long, saying goodnight shortly after.

Despite my exhaustion, though, I know I won't be able to sleep - I slept almost the entire day - so I decide to grab my things and head for the river, careful to make sure no one else had similar ideas. I walk some distance away from the camp down the river, where I'm sure no one will hear me or notice me. My nerves are still on edge, and I jump at almost any sound. It's almost thirty minutes before I allow myself to even think about relaxing. By then, I'm already done with my shower and dressed again, pulling my hair back into a wolf tail. I can't bring myself to head back, though, and instead drop into a familiar waterbending stance and begin to practice.

It's a full moon, imbuing me with more energy than I'm used to, and I know I'm going to feel the exhaustion when we head back out the next day. I'm lost in my thoughts as I practice my forms when a rustling in the bushes behind me makes me whip around, taking a jet of water with me. A hiss sounds in the darkness, and I can just make out the steam and flash of light that briefly precedes it.

"Can't sleep either?" Zuko's voice catches me off-guard, though I guess I should have expected it. I wonder if he's looking for Kya.

"Slept all day, plus it's a full moon. I'm sure I'm not the only waterbender having trouble sleeping." I relax, glad I decided to get dressed in the uniform and pull my hair back again.

"I suppose you're right." He walks closer to the river, looking down at the water. For a while, we stand in silence and I debate simply leaving and sitting in my hut until sunrise.

"Prince Zuko?" My voice is shyer than I intend, but I can't help my nerves. What if I'm out of line in what I'm about to ask?

"Yeah?"

"The two captives…"

"What about them?"

"Did they say anything?" It's been nagging at the back of my mind since I woke up, but I knew Sokka probably wouldn't say anything. Not to mention, I don't exactly have the clearance to find out information like that as a lowly recruit.

Zuko simply looks at me for a moment, golden eyes contemplating whether or not to say anything. "Only that they were given information about our departure to Ba Sing Se - that they knew we'd be taking an alternate route."

"I see." I can't exactly pry further, and I'm surprised he told me anything at all. He continues to watch me, and I know that the longer I linger, the more his suspicions will grow. There's no way for me to head back without seeming suspicious, though, so I'm rooted to the spot. "Do you mind if I continue practicing?"

He shakes his head, waving a hand as if to say he doesn't care either way. I settle back into my stance, going through the forms I learned from Hama. Master Pakku was a great instructor, but there was something feral and just more flexible about the way Hama taught me waterbending. Making my way through a particularly complicated form that involved controlling multiple water tentacles at once, I could feel Zuko watching my every move. What is he looking for? Why can't he just go away? My tentacles lash out and whip at a large boulder by the river, leaving puncture marks and gashes in the stone. A moment later I shift my stance into something closer to firebending. It's been a while since I practiced this way, with Hama barking at me to switch stances at a moment's notice. With quick jabs, I launch jets of water out of the river and into the boulder, freezing them on impact so the ice shatters everywhere with each hit. I get lost in my bending, so that everything fades away from my awareness, leaving only the moon, the water, and the boulder.

"That's impressive." He's still sitting there?

I stop moving, turning to look at him again. He's gone from standing by the river to sitting in the lotus position. Zuko looks like he's about to meditate. I bow my head, attempting to keep up the respectful soldier façade. After all, he's still a prince and my commanding officer. "Thank you."

"That looked like firebending." At least he doesn't seem that suspicious anymore, just curious.

"My waterbending master insisted I incorporate various styles into my bending. Makes me more adaptable." I don't expect him to smile at that, but he does. His face relaxes some.

"Sounds like my uncle." An image of the friendly general floats to the front of my mind. A flash of worry passes through Zuko's eyes. That's right - he's supposed to be in Ba Sing Se.

"General Iroh?"

"Yes." Worry crinkles his brow, but he does a valiant job of trying to hide the nerves. I'm struck with a sudden image of what the general looked like all those years ago, worried for his nephew as Hama and I treated his burn. The expression makes them look strikingly similar.

Before I know what I'm doing, I speak, "He's a strong general. I've heard stories of the things he's capable of. I'm sure he hasn't had any trouble in Ba Sing Se."

Zuko gives me a look, half surprised half embarrassed. I'm about to head back to the camp when Zuko speaks again.

"Would you join me for meditation?" The word _why_ bubbles in my throat, but something about the way he looks at me tells me not to ask. Maybe he just doesn't want to be alone, and I'm the only one awake and available for company. Rather than refuse, I nod and move to sit beside him.

"I've never meditated before." I copy the way he sits, trying to relax my posture. Hama never cared much for the practice, deeming it unnecessary when learning combat. _Pacifist airbender nonsense_ , she called it.

"Just start by relaxing and focusing on your breathing." He closes his eyes and rests his hands in his lap, one on top of the other, his thumbs just barely touching. Again, I copy him.

For a while, we simply sit in tranquility - his breathing, my breathing, and the hush of the flowing river the only sounds that accompany us. It's easy to focus on my own breathing, but every few minutes my mind wanders to his. Before I realize it, I'm matching his breaths. I feel light, my head swimming in a sense of peace I can't remember ever experiencing. I don't know how long we're like this, only that a sudden rustling behind us pulls us both out of our meditations.

"Prince Zuko." We both turn to see Ty Lee standing some distance away. She smiles, though it's impossible to tell if it's sincere. It seems she tries to keep a perpetual smile - even if it doesn't always reach her eyes.

"What is it?" He stands, tense as if ready to receive bad news. I follow suit.

"We've received word from the princess. She and her forces will be meeting us in Ba Sing Se." Princess Azula? I try to call to mind everything I know about her, attempting to reconcile the increased tension in Zuko's jaw and shoulders with Ty Lee's announcement. Shouldn't this be good news? More reinforcements meant better a chance of safety in Ba Sing Se.

"Thank you. Any progress with the prisoners?" He crosses his arms, relaxing only slightly. Ty Lee glances at me, likely wondering if she's allowed to speak around someone who clearly doesn't rank high enough to be privy to need-to-know information. Zuko nods.

"Mai is working on it. They know more than they're letting on - the airbender slipped and said something about a planned coup in Ba Sing Se. We're not sure why they would be targeting the king, so we're trying to get more information." The king? Do they not know the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se?

"Ba Sing Se is one of the strongest cities in the world - if it falls, so will the rest of the Earth Kingdom. It'd be complete chaos. Exactly what the Red Lotus wants." Zuko sighs. "Thank you, Ty Lee. Let me know if you get any more information. Send word to Azula that we'll be expecting her in the western outskirts or the city. Tell her about the attack."

"Yes sir." A small smile and bow, and then she's gone back in the direction of the camp, footsteps too quiet to hear over the river and sounds of the night.

"You should head back to the camp, as well. You'll need rest for tomorrow." He starts to walk deeper into the forest. I want to ask where he's going, but I know he won't tell me. Is he looking for Kya? I realize he hasn't spoken to her since before the attack. With the camp on high alert, it probably isn't a good idea to dress up tonight, but can I risk letting Zuko's suspicions about her increase?

No, I can't.

"Yes sir." I bow the way Ty Lee did before turning to jog back to camp. Careful to go unnoticed, I grab my things out of the stone hut and run back into the cover of the woods, throwing my robe over my clothes and haphazardly doing my makeup. Hiding the bag up in a tree, I go deeper into the forest to look for Zuko. When I make it back to the river, he's long gone. If I wait around, will he eventually double back? Can I afford to sit around? Probably not, so I decide to start making my way in the same direction he went, following along the river.

The night grows chillier with every passing moment, and even though I'm wearing several layers of clothes, the wind blows right through me. Time passes me by as I continue to walk, unsure of how far away from the camp I've wandered. I'm not worried about making my way back, sure that I'll be fine if I just follow the river, but I can't shake off my apprehension.

Apparently, I've made it pretty far away from the camp, because Zuko ambushes me in a flurry of fire bursts. I only just manage to dodge out of the way and bring a stream of water out of the river to put out the fires. He came dangerously close to hurting me, though, the heat of his flames licking at my robes just before they went out. I'm about to ask him what's going on when he launches himself out of the darkness and towards me again, more kicks lined with fire and bursts of flame coming in my direction. All I can do is dodge and put up shields with my water, so that we're surrounded in steam after only seconds.

"Zu-" When did he get so close? A punch to my gut winds me and he knocks me onto my back, before he pins me down with his body, holding a fire dagger to my neck.

"Give me one reason to believe you're not responsible for the attack on my camp." His eyes narrow, he glares down at me. My hat's fallen away, and I'm glad I took the time to apply the makeup. This close, it would have been impossible to conceal my identity otherwise. My hands are free to move, to waterbend him off me, but I'm too scared to make them budge.

"I'm not-"

"You're the only person outside it that knew we'd be taking a different route. You won't even tell me your real _name_." Dammit.

"And you've ruled out the possibility of a traitor within the camp?" His eyes tell me he hasn't. "Or that someone from the Red Lotus group in that town kept an eye on your camp?" The heat of the dagger is beginning to burn my neck. If he doesn't move it soon, it'll leave a mark - one I won't be able to hide very easily. "Why would I _heal you_ if I'm not on your side?" I'm sweating now, and he's crushing my ribs with his weight. "Zuko, _please_. It's a full moon - I could overpower you if I wanted to - I'm choosing not to. _Please_."

My eyes dart to the water, and it seems it's only then he realizes my arms have been free the whole time. He pushes himself off me to sit on the grass, and I'm left on the ground breathing heavily, trying to take in all the air he'd been cutting off. When I sit up, I immediately call water to the palm of my hand and press it where he'd been burning me. I understand why he did it, but it doesn't keep the anger from my eyes as I glare at him. The water soothes the burn, and I can already feel the skin repairing itself.

"Sorry." He's put out the fire dagger, rubbing his face with the same hand before sighing. "I-"

"I get it. It's fine. Just ask questions first next time rather than blindly attacking me." It's difficult to keep the anger out of my voice, too. "As for my name - I _can't_ tell you. I just can't. You're going to have to trust me."

"Why?" Again, those narrow, golden eyes scrutinize me. It's difficult not to squirm, but I somehow manage.

"Female waterbender, remember? If someone in your camp finds out my name…" For starters, there'd be no stopping Sokka from shipping me back to the Fire Nation immediately. Pakku and the others? I'd be as good as dead.

"You don't trust me not to tell? But you expect me to trust you?"

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't trust everyone in your camp. What if someone sees us? Or spots me? The less you know about me, the better. It's for your safety, too. What would they think - the crown prince of the Fire Nation harboring an illegally-trained female waterbender?" I sigh, finally moving my hand away from the burn. It seems to have healed completely. "Maybe I shouldn't follow you to Ba Sing Se - this was a mistake."

"Don't." I move to stand, but he reaches out, his hand encasing mine over the grass, stopping me from moving. Slowly, his fingers curl around my palm, so it's not just trapped against the ground anymore. He's shaking.

"Zuko?" For a fleeting second, his eyes look like they did back when we were kids, when Hama and I healed his burn. Helpless. Half of me wants to pull away, but that's not the half that wins. Instead of taking my hand back, I settle into the grass again. "Zuko."

"Sorry." He's not shaking as much anymore, but there's a tremble to his voice. This is a completely different side of the prince - one I'm sure he's never showed in the camp or to any of his soldiers. The closes he came was the worry he expressed for his uncle earlier in the night. He's a shaken by the attack on the camp as I am - as everyone else is.

"It'll be alright." It's weird, being the one doing the comforting this time around.

"So many of my men - injured or killed. I should have listened to Pakku. They weren't ready. I should have sent them home." I bite my lip to fight back against the pang in my chest.

"Everyone in that camp is there by choice. I'm sure, from what I've seen, that if you tried to send them home many would protest and refuse. They know why they're there, Zuko." I sit back on my calves, taking his hand in both of mine, holding it in my lap. When I look back up at him, our eyes lock and I realize exactly how close I'm sitting.

There's a magnetism about his eyes I never noticed - they pull me much closer than I ever have a right to get, but he leans forward, too, as if unable to resist a similar pull. The moment feels like it stretches out for hours, but I know it all happens in less than a few seconds. Zuko hesitates for hardly a breath before he closes the distance, lips brushing lightly, tentatively against mine. His eyes close briefly, before he pulls away and they're open again, scanning mine for something - but I'm not sure what. A protest? Encouragement? I have no idea what I'm doing when I lean forward again, when I return his kiss.

His free hand makes its way to my neck, steadying me as we kiss, his lips moving slowly against mine. Zuko's impossibly warm, possessing a gentleness I never could have guessed at from looking at him as he cradles my head. Before I realize what I'm doing, one of my hands moves up to cup his cheek, brushing his scar. He stiffens and pulls away slightly. I take my hand back - clearly, I've crossed a line. When he looks at me, though, he's not angry or upset - he's confused. His eyes reflect what looks like a million questions. All it takes is that moment to snap me back into reality. I pull back completely, standing and moving away.

He follows, standing as well. What was I thinking? Kissing him? Touching his scar? I don't have time for this.

"I should go." Zuko breaks the silence first, his voice soft. He looks like he's about to say something else before he thinks better of it and leaves.

I wait until he's long gone before beginning the walk back along the river.

* * *

 **Next time:** Ba Sing Se! And maybe Azula!

A million thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

A thousand apologies. The real world reared its ugly head in and took me away from my beloved fan fiction. Not to worry, though, I really don't intend to abandon this story. Just needed to give myself time to pick up steam again.

So here we are! I can't make any promises on how regular these updates will be, since I'm feeling my way through this story again, but I WILL update.

Thank you for your patience and feedback!

 **Disclaimer** : ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven**

I try not to think about my kiss with Zuko, but his increasing friendliness toward Kuruk makes that difficult.

We only spend another half day at the camp before he decides to keep us moving forward. Something in our meditation session seems to have put Zuko at ease around me, so much so that he's re-organized our assignments. Before, during the first leg of the trip, Toph and I simply brought up the rear with some of the other recruits. Now, he's assigned us to a squad with Mai, Ty Lee, and Sokka, at the front of the group, protecting the remaining supplies.

That attack did way more damage than we originally thought. Aside from taking out a decent number of fighters, the attack also damaged a vast amount of our supplies. If it wasn't for our decreased numbers, there would be no way to ration what was left for the rest of the journey. Zuko seems determined not to stop near any towns, too, afraid of another ambush. Restocking isn't an option. Morale isn't looking good - at all.

With the dip in morale, I know it's only a matter of time before Sokka tries to cheer everyone up.

"So, Prince Zuko…" And there it is. "Any plans for when the war is over?"

It seems Zuko knows Sokka as well as I do - to an extent - and the question doesn't seem to surprise him at all. He turns to my brother, eyebrow raised. "Not particularly, no. You?"

"I'm thinking I should settle down." No one misses the way his eyes dart toward Suki near one of the other carts. He puffs out his chest in a mock-exaggerated gesture. "After all, no woman can resist a war hero."

I can't help the snort that escapes me. "I can already see them swooning at your feet."

"Oh Sokka! Please! Tell me more war stories!" Toph pretends to swoon, her hands going to her forehead and chest. She can't keep up the straight face, though, and doubles over with laughter.

Zuko actually cracks a smile at mine and Toph's reactions. With just that, the tension in the group seems to dissipate some, and there's a distinctly more relaxed air about the company.

Affronted, Sokka can't help but retort. "Laugh it up. Something tells me you don't have a boyfriend waiting back home for you."

Zuko winces, the smile widening a bit more before he shoots Toph an expectant look.

Toph makes a look of disgust. "Joke's on you. I have no interested in 'settling down' or whatever."

"Really?"

"Really." A sudden smirk spreads across Toph's face. "What about you, Kuruk? Left any broken hearts back home?"

"No. I don't date." I keep my answer as unremarkable as possible, doing my best not to think about my kiss with Zuko, but the quirk at the corner of Toph's mouth tells me she doesn't buy it. She knows something's up. Thankfully, she doesn't call me out on it.

The conversation switches to what everyone misses from home, and Sokka starts going on about women's Fire Nation clothes (much to Ty Lee's and Mai's annoyance). I keep to myself for most of the rest of the conversation, letting the three of them form something of a wall between me and Zuko. Toph's the only one that notices.

"Any particular reason why you're acting weird?" She keeps her voice to a whisper, and no one notices.

"A lot on my mind. Can we not talk about this now?" My eyes dart to Zuko, who continues to simply listen to the conversations going on around him from his seat on his ostrich horse.

"You're not getting out of it that easy." She crosses her arms. "Does it have to do with Prince Charming? I've noticed your heartrate spike around him." Her eyes widen. "Does he know?"

"No. Drop it, Toph."

"No he doesn't know or no it doesn't have to do with him?"

"He doesn't know."

"So it _does_ have to do with him." Before Toph can get another word out, or I can respond, Master Pakku's voice rings out.

"Is that smoke?" It's already dark out, but he's right, the skyline is filled with smoke. The fire doesn't seem to be very far away.

Sokka immediately reaches for his maps. "We're not that far from the city. Maybe another hour."

"That's definitely coming from Ba Sing Se – from the outer ring." Zuko immediately turns to address the entire company. "Mai, Ty Lee, Kuruk, Toph – come ahead with me. Pakku, Sokka – lead the rest of the troops."

Mai and Ty Lee take one of the other ostrich horses, and Toph and I follow suit. On the animals and going at full speed, we should be at the city wall in less than thirty minutes. As we speed away, I can hear Pakku and Sokka taking command, ordering the others to pick up the pace. I urge the ostrich horse to go faster, until we've caught up to Zuko. I try to focus on the path ahead of us, but can't help stealing passing glances at the prince. General Iroh is in Ba Sing Se – who knows how the fight might be going that the outer ring was set on fire? I want to reassure him that the general is fine, but catch myself before saying or doing anything stupid. It's not the time, or the place. Pushing thoughts of Zuko away, I urge the ostrich horse to go faster. The Avatar is in Ba Sing Se, as well as possible clues of what happened to my dad.

When we reach the outer wall, the ostrich horses hesitate at the sight and feel of the fire burning through a gaping hole in the crumbling structure. Screams and yelling roar to life through the fire, the cries of the lower ring's citizens pleading for help. Toph and I immediately climb off the ostrich horse, turning our attention to the blaze as it struggles to break through the wall. In swift, measured movements, Toph brings more portions of the wall down, allowing people to escape. At some point, we must have cut ahead of Zuko and the others. When they finally reach us, Zuko focuses his attention on containing the fire, eyes closed and taking deep, controlled breaths. After a few moments, the fires nearest to us have gone out.

"Ty Lee, Toph, scout the area for survivors and get them to safety. Mai – find my uncle or Azula. Find out what's happening. Kuruk, help me put out the fires."

Without another word, we do as he says, splitting up in different directions. I can feel the water running in the pipes beneath the ground, and I use every inch of my strength to cause the nearest one to burst, creating a spring feet within the walls and maneuvering the water to every flame I could see. I stay near the edge of the wall, while Zuko goes farther into the city. By the time I've finished putting out the fires in the immediate area, Sokka and the others arrive, the rest of the waterbenders following my lead in putting out fires.

"Where's Prince Zuko?"

"He went in to put out more fires. Told us to get the survivors to safety." Ty Lee answers before I can, standing and turning her attention away from a small kid who'd been crying. "That was about an hour ago, I think. Mai is looking for the princess or General Iroh." A flash of blue lightning distracts all of us, turning our attention father into the city. Admiration lingers in Ty Lee's voice as she continues, "There's Princess Azula."

Another flash, this time followed by an explosion. Can she really bend lightning?

"That lightning probably isn't helping the fires." If I had to guess, I'd say the fires probably started with a misplaced bolt. "I'm going back in. There are still fires deeper in the city."

Pakku orders the rest of the waterbenders to follow my lead again.

Before Sokka can protest – the look on his face makes it clear he wants to – I grab the nearest ostrich horse and rush into the winding streets of the lower ring. It's deadly quiet under the roar of distant fires, but I push back against the silence. Silence means no one is nearby; we've managed to evacuate the few who were trapped against the edge of the outer wall.

Above, the sky is still shrouded in black smoke. Seeing through the smoke becomes difficult, even more so when I douse nearby fires. I pause, but the break is brief before another loud explosion startles the ostrich horse. It's another moment before I manage to calm the animal and get it to steer in the direction of the chaos. I urge the animal forward, through another set of explosions and two more flashes of lightning. When we stop, it's near the wall to the middle ring. The fires didn't make it past the wall – yet. I expected to see enemy soldiers trying to break their way into the middle ring, but there's no great battle being waged. Instead, there are only a handful of fighters. I recognize the one closest to me as Zuko. His opponent is a burly-looking airbender in gray robes. Some yards away, a woman about my age shoots lightning out of her fingertips and towards another woman with strange tattoos on her forehead. The tattooed woman doesn't dodge the strike, but stares it down, shooting a beam of energy from the tattoo that meets the bolt in an earsplitting explosion.

This time, the ostrich horse is too frightened to control, and it tosses me off its back. I land with a painful thud and watch as the animal runs away in the direction we came. Scrambling to my feet, I scan the area for anything I might be able to do to help the fire nation royals.

I sense the waterwhip coming my way before I see it, and manage to dodge so that it strikes a nearby barrel. When I turn to face my attacker, I meet a pair of dark gray eyes set in the gaunt face of a woman. Instead of arms, two water tentacles hang at her side. With a smirk, she shoots one of the tentacles out toward me again. Again, I dodge, but this doesn't deter her. She freezes the tip of her tentacle into a hooked blade and pulls. This time, it's too quick to dodge, so I brace myself and meet the ice with my palm, melting it and pulling it to my command and away from her.

We're evenly matched, and I don't think this fight will end anytime soon. Blow for blow, we catch each other's attacks and redirect them. At this point, it'll be down to whoever gets tired first.

She clearly knows this too, as she looks at me with dark, calculating eyes. Every once in a while, she glances at her companions, at the other two fights going on around us. Maybe I can use these glimpses to my advantage, but she feels the water coming for her as easily as I do, and deflects my next attack. Before I can recover and attack again, she's moved away from me and to the airbender and Zuko. The fire nation prince doesn't notice the new attacker, but his opponent does.

"Prince Zuko!" My voice makes him look back, but it was a mistake to call his name. Distracted, he doesn't see the attack from the airbender, though he sees the armless waterbender get ready to strike. I'm too far away for a waterwhip to defend against the airbender and before I know what I'm doing, I take a stance I haven't tried since my days with Hama.

Hands outstretched before me, I catch the airbender off guard as his back arches in pain, his body contorting as he falls to his knees. It seems the airbender is the leader of the group, because the two women – the firebender with the tattoos and the armless waterbender – falter at the sight of him crumpled to the ground. Almost immediately, the tattooed woman abandons her fight with the princess and runs to the airbender, just as I've clenched my fists and cut off his air supply, snapping him into unconsciousness. Filled with fury, her eyes search for the person responsible, falling on me. A bolt of energy shoots from her head, and I know I won't be able to dodge.

A wall of earth comes up some feet in front of me, stopping the shot and shaking the area. The force of the attack knocks me back, and my concentration on the airbender breaks as I collide with the side of a building. Toph is a few yards away, joining the fight and keeping the firebender's attention.

Zuko is still squaring off against the waterbender, but Azula quickly draws her attention away, shooting another lightning bolt. I'm sure it'll meet its mark until a stone wall rises from the earth, protecting her like Toph protected me. They were more prepared for the blast, and aren't knocked back like I was.

A fourth person – presumably an earthbender – comes out of the ground near the unconscious airbender and the firebender. He moves differently from the other earthbenders I've seen, his style more fluid. Around the four of them, the ground starts to give way to molten rock – lava.

Who the hell are these people?

Now that they've been corralled together, Azula sends another bolt of lightning their way, breaking the earthbender's concentration on the lava.

"Retreat!" It's the firebender with the tattoos. She appears to be second in command of the group, and the other two follow her orders. A moment later, they're completely encased in earth.

"Toph!"

Without waiting for further orders from Zuko, the blind earthbender hurries to peel away the rock wall they built, but they're long gone. All that's left of them is the mote of lava around where they were standing. She builds a bridge over the lava and quickly runs to examine the ground. "I can't feel them."

"Spread out! Find them!" It's the princess giving orders now, her troops having appeared toward the end of the fight. They scatter. Toph and I look to Zuko for instruction, but he shakes his head. It's clear by the look in his eyes that he's sure they won't find anything.

"They've probably left the city by now. Ba Sing Se is riddled with underground tunnels and they were far too organized not to have an escape plan." He groans, holding his side. "Our efforts are better spent attending to the survivors."

"You do that, Zuzu." The princess sneers at her brother, annoyance in her eyes. If it weren't for the look on her face, I might have actually laughed at the nickname. Toph can't see Azula's face, so her snicker is loud and clear.

Zuko seems to be trying very hard not to lose his temper – it's the most irritated I've seen him yet. "Have you seen uncle?"

"No – the old man sent word that they needed reinforcements but by the time I got here all hell had already broken loose." She shrugs. "I'm sure he's fine. Probably in the upper ring enjoying some tea with the king while the rest of us did the real work."

Again, Zuko looks like he's restraining himself. I've never seen animosity like this between siblings. Looks like I'm the only one made uncomfortable by it, though. Mai and Ty Lee show up in the middle of their conversation, both wearing expressions of relief (or what I think is relief on Mai's face) at the sight of the princess.

"I wonder if this was their attempt at a coup – trying to break through the walls."

"I doubt it. The entire city is crawling with Dai Li, not to mention that getting through the inner walls is close to impossible." Azula waves off Zuko's suggestion. "No doubt they want us to believe that, though."

"We should alert the king – put extra guards on him."

"Already ahead of you, Zuzu." One of her men guides a large lizard – I think they're called mongoose lizards – toward the princess. She mounts it effortlessly before turning and weaving her way through the buildings. "Catch up after you've taken care of your injuries!"

"Go with her." Prince Zuko orders Mai and Ty Lee to follow the princess. "I'll be up shortly."

"Yes sir." They speak in unison before bowing and making their way in the same direction as the princess.

"Kuruk." I jump at the sound of my name. For a second I thought he forgot I was there.

"Sir?" I approach him carefully, it's clear he's worn out and it's not only due to the fight. The princess has quite the effect on him.

"How are the others?"

"We were able to evacuate all the survivors we found. From the looks of it, there weren't that many who were unable to escape the initial fires. Overall, I think we're alright. No serious injuries, either."

"Good." He turns toward Toph and me, but the movement strains him more than it should have. "Let's…let's get them to the middle ring…need to…need…"

Prince Zuko collapses face first, and both Toph and I struggle to catch him. It's not until we turn his body over that we see the nasty gash in his side. There's very little blood, but the wound is deep. "He probably got this fighting the airbender. We shouldn't move him. Go tell Sokka to start moving to the middle ring."

Toph hurries back toward the outer wall, leaving me while I heal Zuko. The area falls into complete silence again, but I don't let myself relax. Some moments later, Sokka returns with Toph, everyone following behind them.

Pakku's the first to speak.

"What happened?" He looks from me to the unconscious prince.

"Princess Azula has gone ahead to the upper ring to report to the king. All we can do is move everyone to the middle ring until Prince Zuko wakes up or we receive more orders."

I've managed to close Zuko's wound, and his breathing has returned to normal. He should be waking up soon, so a couple of earthbenders create a makeshift stretcher to carry him on our way to the middle ring. Sokka and Pakku take the lead. I hover close to Zuko, examining him for any other injuries and looking for signs that he'll wake up. I shouldn't be as worried as I am, shouldn't care as much as I do, but I can't help it. Rather than linger on it, I push thoughts of the prince out of my mind and move on to some of the survivors, healing what wounds I can.

By the time we cross the wall into the middle ring, some Dai Li agents are waiting for us. They handle moving the rest of the lower ring residents and direct us to keep going farther into the city, toward the upper ring. There isn't even a lingering hint that there might have been a fight once we cross the wall into the middle ring. It looks like none of the chaos made it this far into the city, and a wave of relief washes through me. Maybe we weren't too late.

Night has fallen and the entire trek to the upper ring is quiet, solemn. Once we're in the upper ring, another set of Dai Li agents relay orders from the king. We're to recover in the barracks along the upper ring's wall, where our injured will receive further treatment. Pakku orders us to stay put in the barracks, and the Dai Li agents lead him toward the palace, where he'll be debriefed on the situation and then report back.

I don't like the idea of sitting around and waiting. Finding myself pacing back and forth in front of my bed. We're in a large room lined with nothing but military-grade beds. Toph takes up residence in the bed beside mine.

"Do you mind? You're driving me nuts."

"I don't like this. Why are we being told to stay put when we should be patrolling the city? Both Azula and Zuko don't think that was the planned coup, but a distraction. We shouldn't be sitting around."

"Not much we can do, though, until we receive further orders. Besides, prince charming is out cold and Pakku told us to wait."

"You never struck me as a stickler for the rules." I stop pacing, crossing my arms and looking at Toph.

The blind earthbender sits up in her cot, raising an eyebrow. "Did you have something in mind?"

* * *

Ba Sing Se and Azula, as promised. Hope it was worth the wait!

Thanks for reading! Til next time!


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